Gen 12:8 From there he (Abraham) went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. (NIV)
It seems a lot of attention is being given on receiving “the blessing.” The blessing is great and I certainly advise you to pursue it. But there are responsibilities that come with receiving the blessing.
Oswald Chambers said that worship is giving God the best that He has given you. Be careful what you do with the best you have. Whenever you get a blessing from God, give it back to Him. Offer the blessing back to Him in a deliberate act of worship. If you keep it to yourself, you will destroy it. Israel learned that lesson when they tried to hoard the manna. It must be given back to God so that He can make it a blessing to others.
Bethel is a place of fellowship with God; Ai represents the world. Abraham “pitched his tent” between the two. In other words, there must be proper balance in our lives between the spiritual and the material. It is possible to become so heavenly minded that we are not earthly good; or, so focused on the material that we neglect the spiritual. That is why we must “pitch our tents” where we will always have freedom to worship God even though we live in a material world. That is the “blessed” life!
If 2018 is anything like 2017, we are in for a very interesting year, to say the least. But through it all, don’t forget to make worship a part of your daily living. That’s what God intended for it to be. Life and worship should be together as one.
We are in danger of returning to Old Testament tradition where we go to church to worship. Genuine faith combines worship and life, 24/7, not just on Sunday. If the worship you experience in your Sunday worship service is real then you will be more sensitive to the needs around you. If your worship was “in spirit and in truth” your first response will be, “What does God want me to do?” Not, “What’s in this for me?” I’m thankful for the different methods being used in worship, but let’s not allow the method to overpower the purpose.
It’s a discipline that must be developed in order to be blessed. But understand, it will not happen in the first month. It’s a lifestyle.
That’s my view of things.