Faith and Location: Where Have You Pitched Your Tent?
Would you imagine how, in the old days, many, if not all, people dwelt in very simple temporary structures such as tents? They could easily be assembled and disassembled in the twinkling of an eye! Then they would pitch tents, and when they felt the view wasn’t too good, they would pack up and set camp elsewhere without thinking too much about movers! Then it appears there was the luxury of choosing where to dwell. For how long, as long as the land was conducive to them and didn’t have any occupants!
This was also similar to the various families and nations we encounter in the Bible. Journeying through the book of Genesis, we see Abraham called to a place where God would show him. We are not told how long it took him to prepare for this journey. I would imagine he made sure he had enough water, food, and a change of clothes for the course of the new adventure to the unknown!
This journey of faith may not have had a clear itinerary. Abraham may have thought about where he would make stopovers to rest and what he would need to set up camp along the way. Abraham obeyed God and embarked on his journey in faith that God would give him Canaan, a land filled with milk and honey.
He packed his belongings, along with his family and all that they owned, and departed from his father’s land into the unknown. He also took his nephew Lot with him. When they reached Canaan, as recorded in Genesis 12:8, Abraham pitched his tent in Bethel. There, he also built an altar for the Lord. This is the first of many places where Abraham would raise an altar for the Lord after pitching His tent! It’s pretty remarkable that everywhere Abraham settled, he would put up an altar for the Lord and offer sacrifices!
After living together with Lot, as seen in Genesis 13:6, the land became too small for them to cohabit. The Lord had surely blessed them. Abraham gave Lot the pleasure of choosing where he would want to settle in Canaan. Lot chose for himself the beautiful plain of Jordan and pitched his tent near Sodom. Sodom and Gomorrah were two of the five cities that were in the plain of Jordan, whose inhabitants did not fear God and were extremely wicked.
When God promised Abraham the land filled with honey and milk, He didn’t promise an empty or unoccupied land! On the contrary, it had the Canaanites! People from different cultures who served other gods and had their own way of life!
Abraham and Lot had to choose whether to conform to their way of life or to continue following God’s voice, even in this new land. Abraham, throughout his settling in Canaan, did one thing that helped him stay true to who he was. Before pitching his tents, he would raise an altar for the Lord and seek the Lord.
Abraham remained aware that, even though the Canaanites occupied the land, he would not live as they did. He instead established his way of life based on God’s blueprint. In this altar, he would call upon the name of the Lord, wait on Him, and offer sacrifices unto the Lord. An altar is not only a place of worship, sacrifice, intercession, or communion but also a place of influence and transformation. Abraham’s settling into any new place was closely tied to building an altar for the Lord.
Meanwhile, when Lot’s time came to separate from Abraham, he pitched his tent just near Sodom. This was a city known for its wickedness. Later in Genesis 19:1, we find that Lot is no longer just near Sodom but actually sitting at its gates when the two angels of the Lord arrive, ready to destroy the city!
You wonder how he moved from pitching his tent near Sodom to actually living in the city? The final straw is seen in what Lot says when the people of Sodom ask him to deliver the two new people in Lot’s house! Instead of offering to give his guests over to the people of Sodom, he offers his two virgin daughters to them in exchange. However, the angels of the Lord intervene by striking the men of Sodom blind! Lot at this point seems to know the ways of the people of this land and is actually willing to give away his daughters into wickedness.
In comparison, this is what sin does! It’s ever crouching at the doorsteps of our hearts, waiting for any opportunity to manifest! We may not necessarily be doing bad things, as was the case with Lot. Just by pitching his tents in Sodom, he had made him know the wickedness of the people of the land. mere association from a distance! He grown so immune to their sinful nature that he even negotiated with them that they defile his own daughters instead. Had Lot unknowingly conformed to the patterns and ways of the people of Sodom just by being in their midst?
This brings us to examine and question where we have pitched the tents of our hearts? Are our hearts slowly being enticed by the lusts of the flesh just by simply entertaining certain things in our lives? Are the windows of our hearts in full view of wickedness, even if not partaking of it?
The Blessed man not only does he not go to the extent of doing the ungodly things, but he also goes a step further and dissociates himself from the counsel, the path, and the seat of the ungodly. He doesn’t want any whiff of ungodliness near him, and hence he avoids the places where evil is done as well.
This begs the question: Is there a sin of association? I believe that there is. Would we not be influenced to rationalize and normalize sin if all you heard and saw was ungodly? Wouldn’t it become the new normal? When we constantly pitch our tents in the camp of the ungodly, sin slowly creeps in and becomes negotiable. Eventually, it becomes normal, acceptable, and excusable.
Where have you pitched the tent of your heart? Is it near sin? What have you entertained in your life that is slowly creeping in at the gates of your heart? What subtle thoughts have we entertained that would give entrance to sin? What TV shows, movies, or songs have we permitted to decay the place of God in our lives slowly?
Does the place where I have pitched the tent of my heart reflect on things that are actual, noble, just, pure, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy? Am I unconsciously in constant association with ungodliness just by the effect of being physically or emotionally attached to the wrong people in my life?
This Bible verse in Philippians 4:8 indeed casts an excellent challenge for us all! It calls us to be constantly intentional about what we allow into our lives and to guard the gates of our hearts. to be ever screening what is allowed into our hearts and minds. It calls for constant self-reflection and evaluation of our lives. Additionally, like David, we ought to say “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalms 139:23-24).
David again says, “For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Did he also realize the fact that there is sin that lurks within the tents of the wicked?
In closing, this is a reminder to guard jealously the place where we pitch the tents of our hearts. That God by His mercies may heighten our senses to hear and see where He desires us to be. Both physically, socially, and spiritually, and the grace to obey dwell in the right place.
Prayer
Lord, I pray that, even as I continue to walk on this earth, I may always raise an altar to you. That I will find my influence and my way of life in your altar. I pray that my life will not be influenced by my environment or the people around me. Instead, may your Word be my lamp and the light unto my feet. Help me, Lord, to be conscious and alert when the tent of heart starts to shift away from your presence. When my senses begin to be dulled by sin, call me out. Lord, keep the tent of heart ever pitched in your courts, ever gazing on the beauty of our Lord.
Amen
