Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Up
- Up: Up is the word we use for what we worship. If we are following God’s will, God will occupy the Up position. Our life, our identity, our mission, our family on mission is all derived from Up. This is why God needs to be in our Up position.
This is a fairly harsh chapter, especially when we remember back
to the fact that this chapter happens because Eli’s sons treated the Ark of
Lord casually. Eli’s sons did not go to
the Lord and discern whether the Ark should go up. Because they brought the Ark to a battle
without the Lord’s permission it is captured among the Philistines.
After getting a pretty bad plague, the Philistines now want to
send it back. They don’t know how to
handle the Ark, so they get some advice.
They send the Ark back with gold – an offering – and cattle – a sacrifice. They likewise treat the Ark casually,
although to their credit they are actually doing the best they can do since
they proved yesterday they weren’t willing to change.
But then the Hebrew people get the Ark back. Yes, they rejoice. But they fail to treat the Ark as the seat of
God should be treated. 70 people die
because they treat the Ark casually.
All of this brings me back to the idea of Up. Yes, God should be in our Up position. But God should be revered. We shouldn’t just be in a relationship with
God, we should worship Him. We do not
need to be casual about our relationship with God. If God is in our Up, then we need to live
like it!
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