Genesis 35:1

Genesis 35:1 says,  And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.  God now gave Jacob directions.  Jacob was to go to Bethel, dwell there, and build an altar to God.  God was specific about Who He was.  He was the God Who appeared to Jacob when he fled from Esau.  As followers of Christ, we should always be listening for God's instructions, but once we accept Christ as our Savior, God should not have to remind us Who He is.  Verse two states, Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:  Jacob told those of his household to put away any strange gods they had and to be clean before God.  We likewise must put away any strange gods that we may have.  I believe that this means more than just putting them out of sight to be called on later, but means putting them out of our life altogether.  Verse three adds, And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.  Jacob said they were going to Bethel, and there he would make an altar to the God Who answered him in the day of his distress.  We must always remember that God will be with us in our times of distress, if we have accepted Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Verse four declares, And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.  His family gave Jacob all their strange gods and anything associated with them, and he buried them.  Jacob did not try to sell them or profit from them.  We must remove all false gods, and they do not have to be statues, from our lives, without concern for what it might cost us materially.  Verse five says, And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.  Jacob and his family journeyed under God's protection, and no one harmed them.  Spiritually today, we as followers of Christ journey under God's protection, and even if we were to be physically destroyed, no one can harm us spiritually, as long as we remain faithful to God.  Verse six states, So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him.  Then verse seven adds, And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.  Jacob got to where God told him to go and built an altar, because he remembered that was where God had appeared to him.  As Christians, there should be a place that we can remember where we first met God and entered into a personal relationship with Him.  Verse eight declares, But Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.  Jacob was back in touch with his family, and was most likely taking care of his mother's old nurse until she died.  She was not a blood relative, but she was still treated as a part of the family.  As followers of Christ, we certainly are not all kin to each other in earthly terms, nor are we all of the same status in life.  Still, we are to treat each other as a part of the same family, because we are brothers and sisters through the blood of Christ.