by Zeke Flores<\/p>\n
In Genesis 35:1, God tells Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there .. build an altar<\/em>.”<\/p>\n This is a reminder that worship is not optional for God’s people; it’s foundational. Bethel was the place where Jacob first encountered God. Now God calls him back to renew his devotion.<\/p>\n Spiritual drift is real. Jacob’s household had accumulated idols, compromises, and distractions. Before Jacob could obey, he had to purify his home. Worship requires consecration. It’s not just singing; it’s surrender.<\/p>\n God’s call to Bethel is a call to re-center life around Him. It’s a call to remember, repent, and realign.<\/p>\n If your commitment feels scattered or spiritually dull, God may be calling you back to your own “Bethel”, the place where your faith was awakened, where God met you, where your devotion was clear.<\/p>\n Return. Rebuild. Renew.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Zeke Flores In Genesis 35:1, God tells Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there .. build an altar.” This is a reminder that worship is not optional for God’s people; it’s foundational. Bethel was the place where Jacob first encountered God. Now God calls him back to renew his devotion. Spiritual drift is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[356,84],"class_list":["post-94166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-attendance","tag-worship"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20005,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/looking-for-god-in-all-the-wrong-places\/","url_meta":{"origin":94166,"position":0},"title":"Looking for God in All the Wrong Places","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Amos 5:4-9 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God wants us to seek Him \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is not that God is hiding or \u201cplaying hard to get.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God is not found unless we are looking. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Example: the child who cannot find his shoes. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0a.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He has looked \u201ceverywhere,\u201d but he is standing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2959,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-was-the-angel-that-jacob-wrestled-with-at-jabbok\/","url_meta":{"origin":94166,"position":1},"title":"Who was the angel that Jacob wrestled with at Jabbok?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 22, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Who was the angel that Jacob wrestled with at Jabbok? Answer: \"Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93721,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-why-gods-judgment-through-the-bears-was-righteous\/","url_meta":{"origin":94166,"position":2},"title":"Notes on Why God\u2019s Judgment Through the Bears Was Righteous","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 6, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Bento (based on an AI-generated list) The \"children\" were not little kids The Hebrew word \u05e0\u05b0\u05e2\u05b8\u05e8\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd (na'arim) can refer to: young men, servants, military trainees, adolescents, or adults (e.g., Joseph at 17 is called a na'ar). The same word describes Ishmael as a teenager, David as a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63039,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/nearer-my-god-to-thee\/","url_meta":{"origin":94166,"position":3},"title":"Nearer, my God, to Thee","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Songs are magnificent. There is a reason God wants us to teach by singing, and I was reminded of this powerfully one night recently after I preached a lesson in a meeting. My lesson was called \"Come to Bethel,\" and I discussed Genesis 28, Jacob's leaving the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14547,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-beth-mean-in-various-town-names\/","url_meta":{"origin":94166,"position":4},"title":"What does “beth” mean in various town names?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question that came up in my most recent studies with maps. My study sent me to look at the maps in the back of my Bible, and I found something quite interesting. There are some towns with names that begin with 'Beth', such as Bethlehem. My\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17963,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-wasnt-rachel-buried-with-jacob-but-leah-was\/","url_meta":{"origin":94166,"position":5},"title":"Why wasn’t Rachel buried with Jacob but Leah was?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 23, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why wasn't Rachel buried with Jacob but Leah was? Answer: Rachel died shortly after childbirth during a journey from Bethel to \"The Tower of the Flock\", which is believed to have been in the area Bethlehem. \"Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94166\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}