Bethal - Is the name of a place often used in the Bible and first mentioned in Genesis 12:8 as being near where Abram pitched his tent. Later in Genesis, it is the location where Jacob dreamt of seeing angels and God, and which he therefore named Bethel, "House of God."
The word Bethal is also associated with the Mission to Seamen, now known as the Mission to Seafarers. Various ad hoc flag signals were used to publicise services on ships. Finally it was the designing and adoption of the Bethel flag which gave the movement, and subsequent societies, a visible symbol and title. . . Soon the presentation of the flag to a Christian master or to a Bethel Society, and its hoisting in a new port of call, became the way in which the movement was identified.
I wonder what symbol of flag would you design to call others to worship. It strikes me that in recent centuries we have become fixated with places of worship; permanent structures that often are the only place in which official worship takes place. But isn’t there something to be said for this notion of with Jacob denoting a location where God becomes evident to us and there racing out Bethel Flag. Tony Evans claims that, "If you limit worship to where you are, the minute you leave that place of worship you will leave your attitude of worship behind like a crumpled-up church bulletin." Place this alongside Charles Spurgeon’s words of "All places are places of worship to a Christian," and we begin to understand the true nature of place and worship.
In John 4:246 we find Jesus extolling, “God is Spirit; and those who worship Him must bring Him true spiritual worship." (Weymouth Translation)
A Prayer
Abba Father, by the gift of your Spirit I come to you as your child. Thank you so much for giving me your Spirit so that I can approach you with confidence and know you hear the concerns of my heart. Please accept the worship of my heart, of my words, and of my actions. May the things I do today bring you glory. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
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