This is what the Lord says to Israel:
“Seek me and live;
do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,
do not journey to Beersheba.
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.” Seek the Lord and live,
or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;
it will devour them,
and Bethel will have no one to quench it. (Amos 5:4-6 NIV, 12-31-12)

Bethel, the “House of God” where Abraham met with God and Jacob saw the vision of the heavenly ladder.

Gilgal, where God “rolled away” the shame of the Israelites by having their men finally be circumcised.

Beersheba, the well where the Patriarchs actually lived and spoke with God.

Those places, so crucial to Israel’s ancestors are worthless now because a) the Israelites have corrupted them and b) each generation–and each person– must discover their own Bethel and Gilgal and Beersheba. I must seek God, not my tradition, not my past, not anyone else’s past.

God always says, “Seek me.” Not an experience (Jacob’s Ladder), not a procedure (circumcision), not a comfortable place (Beersheba).

Seek a personal relationship with a personal God.

[Father, help me to stay true to MY faith, not to dishonor those who have gone before me, but to honor you. And help me to seek only you.]