Meeting With God
By Susan Klein
“There, above the
cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will
meet with you…”
Exodus
25:22 (NIV)
Reading
through the Book of Exodus, one could really get bogged down with all of the
details and specifications that are recorded for the building of God’s
Tabernacle. Some might even question, “Why must we know all of this minutiae?”
I often tend to skim over sections such as this, but if God chose to include
them in His written word, there must be some important nuggets to glean.
As I pondered chapters 25-30, I came to understand some things
about God’s reason for such detailed plans regarding His meeting place with His
people. First of all, God’s people were on the move. Places and circumstances
were always changing. The Tabernacle was to be a consistent place to meet God,
one which never changed. Secondly, it was to be holy and reverent. They had
just fled Egypt,
where it was easy to get caught up in wrong customs of the culture, which could
(and did) distract from authentic worship of the one true God.
I may not be nomadic, but I’ve moved more than once in my
life. With each move, I’ve searched for a new church that was consistent in its
beliefs and practices with the one I had left. But, what about the issue of
cultural distractions? Our culture deems it appropriate to don our preferred
team’s jersey on game Sunday, or to sip our favorite coffee drink during the
sermon. Or, how often do we run into the building at the last minute because we
let simple distractions at home make us late? Perhaps we’re just more focused on after-church activities than
we are on the message being preached. While these may not necessarily be wrong
in and of themselves, they can become wrong if they distract our focus from
worshipping God.
I am hugely thankful that we live in the age of grace. Unlike
the Israelites, we have not been given pages upon pages of specific instructions
on how we are to worship or how we are to build our Tabernacles. That said,
“holy and reverent” should never be left out of our worship equation. We are
all still responsible to enter God’s house of worship with a right and
respectful heart. We are there to meet with Him! If we allow the distractions
of the world to take the forefront of our thoughts, we will not be able to
reverentially worship our God in the way in which He deserves.
How
are you meeting with God?
GOING
DEEPER:
1.
How do you prepare yourself to worship on Sunday mornings?
2.
Identify the distactions that might be keeping you from “reverential” worship.
FURTHER
READING:
Susan is married to
Mark, and has two adult children. She enjoys teaching Bible studies, writing,
and tutoring with the Literacy Council. She is a member of the Peace Team at
Oakwood.
