October 4, 2013 Pursuing God calls for a Decision In pursuing God, He is calling for us to make a decision as to what we will do. Will we pursue Him or not? Gen. 34: 2-5 say, “Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: 3 And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. 4 And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid (buried) them under the oak which was by Shechem.” Jacob instructed those in his house or family to make a Decision about who, was God in their lives. V. 2 says, “Put away the strange gods that are among you.” This was a time of decision for Jacob and all his family. He asked them to come to a decision about what or Who is God in their lives. They had to decide in Whom they were going to place their faith. Would it be Jehovah, who alone is God, or some other god and good luck charms they’ve had? He called on or for a house cleaning and a heart cleaning. They could not let anyone or anything take the place of Jehovah in their lives. Neither can we pursue God if we have or allow anything to take God’s place. Who or what comes first in our lives? What kind of gods or good luck charms do we trust? Remember the 10 Commandments say have no other gods in place of Him. Matt 22:37-38 say, “Jesus said unto him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment.” Maybe we need to ask what’s taking God’s place in our lives? (Matt. 6:33) Then Jacob had a 2nd word for those in his home. He told them they needed to, “be clean (purify yourself).” This could be easily seen as a time of both confession as well as the ceremonial cleansing of the outside as well as cleansing the inside. We find this when Moses before the burning bush was instructed to take off his shoes because he was standing on holy ground. Anytime we approach God or pursue God we must realize we’re on Holy Ground. We all need to deal with being clean before God in all areas. We see that during the days of the priest, and we see it especially during the time of worship in the tabernacle and the temple. The priest would go through a time of cleansing in order to prepare for worship. Whatever the case, in order for us to pursue God we need put away all the other gods and things that get in the way or hinder our pursuit and worship of God. Then we also need to confess our sin and seek the CLEANSING that comes through FORGIVENESS (1John 1:9). The 3rd word that Jacob had for those in his home was they were to, as he told them, “change your garments.” This is something we see as words of instruction to those like Moses and Aaron and those that came as priest to God in the act and form of worship. A change of their garments indicates a change in what they or individuals were getting ready to do. They were getting ready to set out on a journey to go to a place to worship. When the priest went through his process of cleansing and then the changing of the garments, he was preparing himself for worship. In pursuit of God there are several things we could see represented in this thought. 1st when we’re saved, God in Christ transforms/changes us. 2Cor. 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Colossians 3 instructs us to put off the Old Man and to put on the New Man. So, we as believers by our decision to change or not change have Determined our PURSUIT of God.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Oct 2013 10:46:11 +0000
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