Where are you living?

     Many of you know I'm attending a Bible study on Tuesday nights (Bible Study Fellowship - it's awesome! You all should check it out!) and tonight's lecture was just so great. Over the week we studied Genesis 34-36, and tonight our teacher (Tony) spoke and he had many great points, but the ones that really stuck out were the points he made regarding Genesis 35:1-15.

     To understand just how far Jacob has fallen away from the Lord, read Genesis chapter 34 and pay close attention to Jacob's complete lack of response to the rape of his daughter, and his selfish concern when he learns his sons have murdered all the men of Shechem (he's more worried about his own hide than about the character of his sons)....this is one of the fathers of Christianity! So, in the very next chapter, God comes to Jacob and says "Get up, get out of here and go to Bethel. Make an altar in the place where you and I met before." So Jacob gets up and goes to Bethel (side note: Bethel is where Jacob was when he had the famous "Jacob's Ladder" dream/encounter with God). When he gets to Bethel, Jacob makes an altar and recommits his life, and his family's lives to God. And God doesn't just sit back and say, "Oh, well thank you, Jacob" instead he says, "Jacob, you have recommitted your life to me and I want you to know I've got you covered. In fact, I've got you so covered that you're not even the same person anymore. Now, instead of Jacob, you are called Israel. You are a completely new man." (Sound familiar? If not, look back to my first post!)

     When Tony spoke about this passage he quoted someone who said, "The only cure for worldliness is to separate from it." (see this quote in context here: http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/0135.htm) which is why God wanted Jacob to move from Shechem to Bethel. He wanted to physically take Jacob from a godless land to the place where Jacob had been closest to God. Tony talked about the struggle to live righteously and asked us, "Do you live defeated in the battle with sin, or do you believe you have been delivered?" He went on to challenge us to ask ourselves, "What sins am I living as a slave to?" 

    This really hit home for me! I looked at myself and thought of my three summer goals. I've done well with the Reliv goal and the fried food goal (I'm not craving it! That is a HUGE success!!!) but I've really been struggling with that exercising goal. Getting up in the morning and working out is the LAST thing I want to do and I tend to think about it in a defeated way. Instead of remembering that because of Jesus, I already have victory over those sins and struggles I think, "Oh man, this is so hard for me. I'll never be a morning person, and I just don't like exercising. Trying to train myself to exercise in the morning is like trying to train a fish to climb a tree - it's unnatural and I'll never be able to do it." But tonight Tony asked us, "Are you saved? If so, nod your head or raise your hand or something." A lot of us nodded our heads and/or raised our hands to say yes, we are saved, and then Tony said, "Then quit living like you're in Shechem because you're not! You're in Bethel."

     You guys, this is huge! This applies to all areas of life, but for me it's especially applicable to my struggle with my weight. I so live like I'm in Shechem and like I'm trapped there never to escape. But the beauty is, I don't even need to escape! Because I am covered by the blood of the Almighty God - the God who commands angel armies (how cool is that!?!) I am ALREADY rescued! So tomorrow morning when my alarm goes off and I have to get up to exercise at 7am I won't think: "I am so tired...maybe I'll skip this morning and exercise tonight instead...but if I don't do it now I won't do it later...oh well, it's a lost battle anyhow. I'll just skip this one."  Instead I'll get up and tell myself, "Jesus suffered and died to give you victory in your battles. Are you going to think like a slave when you are already free? Are you going live like you're in Shechem or in Bethel? Girl, you better damn that devil back to hell because you are rockin' it in Bethel!"