Person not place - Chambers, Oswald

Seek ye me, and ye shall live. Amos 5:4

The danger of seeking places of blessing is very prevalent. Bethel, for instance, was the place of divine blessing historically; it was there Abraham built an altar to the lord, there Jacob had visions of god what place could be more suitable to seek than bethel, there to have the spirit of communion revived and quickened by sweet and divine meditation? And yet god says, but seek not bethel, nor enter into gilgal. Gilgal was the place of the first encampment of the children of Israel after crossing the Jordan; what could be better after sanctification than to return in memory to the place of our first encampment in the promised land? Yet god says nor enter into gilgal, and pass not to beersheba. Beersheba was the place of wonderful refreshing; Abraham dwelt there; hagar was relieved there; Jacob was comforted there. What could be better than a pilgrimage back to our beershebas, the place where outcasts have been received, the discouraged encouraged, the failures revived and made successes? Yet god says, and pass not to beersheba.

At first reading of these verses one might wonder what their message is when applied spiritually, and yet very little attention will reveal that it is the old story that it is the lord himself and not the places of bless- ing the children of god are to seek. The place of former victories for god, the place that was heaven on earth in days gone by, will be places of defeat and fail- ure if you persist in going there as a means of reviving. The message of god is seek ye me, and ye shall live. It is the message that runs all through gods book and all through the experiences of the saints life. I wonder how many of us are trying to haunt places instead of seeking the lord? There are places of revival to which the people of god take pilgrimages and spend hours and days and weeks there, trying to get a jaded life back again into communion with god, trying to revive by meditation and the power of association what can never be made alive apart from the living presence of god himself. God is not confined to places, and where he once blessed, he may not bless again, it depends on the motive in seeking it.

Seek ye me, and ye shall live. Oh the joy of that life with god and in god and for god! It takes a sharp discipline for many of us to learn that my goal is god himself, not joy, nor peace, nor even blessing, but himself my God.