The encampment of the Israelites around the tent of meeting, which represents the presence of God, is an important picture of how we are to live our lives each day and practice our worship and in that sense, religion.
Each week, many Christians all around the world gather in churches. However, when we speak of gathering together, what are we really gathering about?
For the most part, the segments of service seem to have been allowed to become a centrepiece in our devotion. It seems that we have chiselled away everything else and decided that our relationship with God is all about the preached message and nothing else.
In our bid to simplify our lives to the essential, somewhere along the line, we need to examine what we have subconsciously allowed ourselves to subscribe to. Yes, God is in the sermon, He is in the centre of our discussions at our Life groups, but the sermons and discussions are not Him!
We can miss Him completely when we become so driven to “complete” our weekend religious practice. A proper relationship with Him entails us seeking His presence in our fellowship, our worship, His word which transforms our minds when we respond to it.
When we gather each week, we are called to gather about His presence, not just any element within what we have defined as “doing church” within the two-hour frame each Sunday.
He is the centerpiece of our devotion. Selah.