Return to God, renew your life – Part 1

Just when you think your life is settled and you have either no need or hope of something new; that is when God shows up as the great disrupter. The result in such instances always leaves you a person better hitherto the case. This was what He did to Jacob whose name was later changed by God to Israel.

Jacob had an encounter and interaction with the Lord at the city of Bethel that resulted in a new spiritual experience and personal relationship with Him. But with the passage of time, Jacob strayed far away from the experience at Bethel and God had to call him to retrace his steps and return. “And God said unto Jacob, arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother,” (Genesis 35:1). Likewise, the Lord calls all believers who have gone far away from their initial consecration to return to Him.

For God’s word to prosper in our lives, family and ministry, we must ask Him to always help us remember our first encounter with Him and first love, which we might have forgotten. Moreover, we must pray for God’s to have His desire and demands inscribed upon our hearts at all times, so that we can serve Him acceptably and be a blessing to multitudes of people. For this privilege not to be taken away from us, we must return to the Lord and renew our lives and ministry at our Bethel, the place where we first met Him.

“And God said unto Jacob, arise, go up to Bethel…make there an altar unto (Me).” The Lord gave Jacob an express command of what to do. This is edifying. As we hear or read the word of God and have it expounded to us, we must each seek to know and receive the specific instruction the Lord is communicating to us.

• He gives us the Divine Call to return to the God of Bethel.God made it very clear that He is “the God of Bethel.” He instructed Jacob to “return” to Bethel, where he had a personal encounter with Him and received the same promise He had given to Abraham and Isaac. Also, the Lord assured him of divine provision and protection. “And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest… until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.” That was the importance of Bethel for Jacob. For us today, the divine call to return is not just a physical journey to return to Bethel. It is to “return unto the Lord,” the God of Bethel, and love Him with all our heart, soul and mind. For that to be possible, our heart must be sanctified and cleave to the Lord all the days of our lives.

• He hands us a direct commandment to remember Him as the God of all blessings.“But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God.” As God called Jacob back to Bethel, He wanted him to “remember” what he was before Bethel, what he became at Bethel, and what happened after Bethel. He was also to remember that everything he had was from the God of Bethel.

Similarly, we must always have and bring to mind what we were before our first encounter with the Lord, what we became at salvation and the uncountable things He has done after we were saved.

God had something against Jacob for settling down in Shechem and not going all the way to Bethel, where He wanted him to reside. God has “somewhat against” those who have left their Bethel and are not at the place of total surrender and explicit obedience to Him. He is not pleased with those who have “left (their) first love” for other encounters and encumbrances and have allowed their first devotion, consecration and vow, when they met Christ, to fade away. The Lord wants such people to “remember therefore from whence (they have) fallen, and repent” and come back wholeheartedly to where He wants them to be spiritually.

• He demands a definite commitment from us to remain with God as true believers. The condition for God’s continued presence with us is that we remain committed to, and abiding in Him. Jacob must have been asking himself where is the “power (that he had) with God” and with men, and the prevailing influence he had when God spoke to him. The Lord wants us to reflect and find out if we have declined from the peak we attained in our relationship with Him and return, renew our lives and remain with Him.

• Further reading (King James Version): Genesis 35:1. Genesis 31:13; 28:11-16; Deuteronomy 30:2,6; Deuteronomy 8:18; Genesis 32:9,10; Revelation 2:4.5; Genesis 31:3,13; 32:27,28,30; John 15:1,4,5,7.