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The House of God – Genesis 28

I've started to reread the Bible and am going through Genesis. Yesterday, before we left for church, I read Genesis 28. In this chapter Jacob is leaving his home, basically running from his brother, Esau, who wants to kill him (not without cause).

When the sun sets, Jacob stops and falls asleep, during which he has his famous "Jacob's ladder" dream. God speaks to him in this dream, confirming the covenant with Abraham and Isaac.

When Jacob awakes he says, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it." The chapter goes on to say that Jacob was afraid and added, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of the God, and the gate of heaven."

Now this is already a pretty striking passage with the dream and the God's speech to Jacob, but oddly, what really struck me was Jacob's response when he woke. Maybe because of the word "awesome" or the exclamation point: "How awesome is this place!" I wasn't sure as to why, but this passage really captured my imagination.

Then we went on to church. The worship time after the message was particularly profound for me and I heard God say, "I gave you my Spirit until I return. YOU are the "awesome place" because I am in you."

I've been working for the last couple of years on losing weight and getting my body healthy, and this was one more reminder from God that we are His modern Temple. He lives in us. Just like Jacob, wherever we go, God is there and it is awesome. I need to be a good steward of that gift and take care of it.

Praise God that He meets us in His Word, in His Church, and even within ourselves.

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