Amos 5:4-5 This is what the Lord says to the house of Israel:
“Seek me and live;
do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,
do not journey to Beersheba.”

When things get difficult, we tend to turn to the familiar, to traditions or whatever has seemed comforting in the past. The problem is, those things were generally intermediary; if they really helped us, they were simply the medium by which God helped us. We are quick to forget that God is the source of every good, regardless of the form in which it comes to us. (James 1:17) When we focus on the form, we miss God. Here, God isn’t telling us to do anything complicated, He’s just saying to seek Him. There are times when pilgrimages can be good, but only if our goal is God Himself, not the physical location. There are times when God manifests Himself in a particular location, just as He did in the burning bush with Moses. However, the bush itself wasn’t His residence, and I doubt that Moses later built a shrine there, even though it was holy ground at the time of the encounter. This sort of thing isn’t limited to places. King Hezekiah had to destroy the bronze serpent that Moses had made on God’s instructions, because people were worshiping the serpent instead of God. (2 Kings 18:4) God alone, and not any part of His creation, is worthy of our adoration and worship. Interestingly, often the problem isn’t the place or the object itself, but the traditions we have built up. Jesus addressed that very explicitly. (Mark 7:8) That is frequently a problem with denominations, where following tradition becomes more important than seeking God through His Word and His Spirit. To all of this, and to all of us, God says, “Seek Me and live.”

I grew up in a denomination with strong traditions, many of them very good, but I have seen many people on various occasions place those traditions ahead of God. Likewise, I have seen people flock to this, that, or the other location, sometimes seeking God but sometimes seeking the place itself, with a feeling akin to magic. I myself delayed experiencing the baptism in the Holy Spirit because I was so focused on the gift of tongues. The Lord has shown me that none of these things are bad in themselves, any more than the gift of tongues is bad, but that our focus must be on Him. I know people whose focus is on theological orthodoxy. Good theology is important, but even that is secondary to seeking God Himself. We can lose sight of Him so easily, precisely because all these other things are easier to see, closer, so to speak. However, nothing is as close as God when we abide in Christ, and Christ in us.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me deal gently with those who want something they can see. Use me to open the eyes of their hearts so that they may see You indeed, and understand how secondary all these other things are. May I not despise Your tools, but may I never place them ahead of you. Thank You. Praise God!