Arise and Go!

Tay Rail Bridge seen from Wormit, Fife.
Photo by Ben Bremner, https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=5130449813654043&id=100000672252623

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 (NASB)

Life is never random, regardless of what some folk may say about it. Our lives are directed from the day we are born until the day we die, by those who lead us at home, work and in government. More often than not we obey, but sometimes grudgingly. For the believer in God our footsteps in life are guided by His will, as we see in todays scripture verse.

Jacob has returned to his homeland after serving his father in law Laban for twenty years, and is a wealthy man. In Shechem his daughter is raped by the son of Hamor, Jacob’s sons avenge the evil done by deceiving and slaughtering many of the men of Shechem and plundering the livestock. It is after this that God calls on Jacob to return to Bethel.

Let us look at the ordering of the command. “Arise” is the first word, to get up/get ready. “Go up to Bethel” is the next stage, not just go (forward) but to go specifically to a chosen place; to which He has a purpose. “Live there” not just lives like the world but Godly lives that honour Him before men. “Make an altar to God” to worship God in thankfulness for all His guidance and provisions.

Dear reader, are you following the guidance of God in your life as Jacob did in Genesis 35? Arise, get up and be ready to follow His Spirit each day. Listen to His call, and go where He leads you  to serve Him. Live a Godly life as a witness to His presence in your life; make your body an altar to His glory. In this you follow in the footsteps of Jacob, and even those of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

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• Psalm Sunday Recap – 119:1-8 Aleph22nd May 2022
• Psalm Sunday (119:9)22nd May 2022

NOTE: I want to give a special mention to Ben Bremner (a fellow Fifer) who has given me permission to use his beautiful photography of Fife, thank you!