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 and also co-leads an on-site small group.
