There are certain places that forever hold spiritual significance for me - my childhood bedroom, where bedtime conversation with my Savior was often as real as any human conversation I've ever had. There is my home church, where I learned the great truths of the Bible, and began my spiritual journey. There is the old brick chapel where I truly believe I heard the audible voice of God. And there is the altar area of a church auditorium where I one night poured out my heart in prayer and tears, and was forever changed. These places were all a significant part of my spiritual formation, and I pray I never lose sight or memory of them.

There was a man who encountered God in a particular place, in a life-changing way. He was eventually called back to that place to further his spiritual formation.

"Then God said to Jacob, 'Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.'" (Genesis 35:1) ... "So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel ), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. He built an altar there, and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled from his brother." (verses 6-7) ... " Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. So Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel." (verses 14-15)

Bethel. The house of God; the gateway of heaven. It was there that God Almighty, El Shaddai (verse 11) appeared to Jacob, whose name He changed to Israel. The God of his grandfather, Abraham, and his father, Isaac, chose to reveal Himself there. And the promises made to Abraham were repeated to Israel as they had been to his father, Isaac. The Almighty God of lasting agreements took the initiative in a place called Bethel.

We all have Bethels. There is place where God became most real to us that we can call our own Bethel. Perhaps it is not as dramatic a place as Jacob's Bethel, but a place nevertheless where God initiated a life-changing experience with us. For many people, it was a breakthrough in a familiar place; a church service. On an ordinary Sunday, the words of a song, or a particular phrase or verse in a sermon suddenly breathed with the life of El Shaddai, God Almighty. In a startling moment, the Eternal One broke through time to powerfully reveal His presence and reality.

Don't lose sight of your Bethels. Revisit them in your mind, and even physically return to them when possible. Don't worship the place, but rather worship Yahweh who revealed Himself in that place. And rejoice that you have a Father who loves you enough to initiate contact.

I pray that today has a special Bethel moment in it for you.

Steve

© 2011, Steve Taylor