Do you need God again?

"God appeared to Jacob again." (Gen. 35:9)

Jacob had come to a time in his life when he needed his fire rekindled, his faith rejuvenated, and his family reclaimed for God. Every person's spiritual life is like a hinge. It can get rusty if you do not keep it well oiled. Oil in the Bible is often a symbol of the Holy Spirit. To keep our spiritual life well oiled, we need to be diligent to seek God's Presence.

In Genesis 35 God tells Jacob to return to Bethel, the place where he had first really encountered the God of his father Isaac and his grandfather Abraham. "Bethel" means "house of God." Geographically, the place that Jacob had named "Bethel" was a place of spiritual awakening for him. And God tells Jacob to dwell there. (35:1)

What was necessary for Jacob is necessary in our lives. We need to dwell in the place where God is. We need to be sure that every day we encounter God in our lives by taking time in devotion to seek His Presence. Sometimes because everything is going well in our lives, we ignore God. We don't get up one day and say, "I will walk away from God today." Instead, we get in a hurry one day and we skip our Quiet Time with God, and soon it becomes regular for us to miss. And gradually we drift away from God.

Could it be today you need God again? Do you need to rekindle the devotional fire? Do you long for the fresh oil of God's Spirit? Maybe it is time to return to "Bethel".