What's your Ebenezer?

I remember growing up singing the hymn "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" in church on Sundays. While it's an excellent hymn, I've always been baffled when singing the second verse which says: "Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’m come..."  What is an Ebenezer? While it might be a bit humorous to imagine lifting up Ebenezer Scrooge, that's not what's being talked about. So what exactly is an Ebenezer? The term comes from 1 Samuel 7:12 which states:

"Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, 'Thus far the Lord has helped us.'"

The word Ebenezer, literally translated, means "stone of help". Israel had just won a great victory over the Philistines. God had showed up big time. "The Lord thundered with load thunder against the Philistines and threw then into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites" (1 Samuel 7:10).  This stone was named "Ebenezer" to remind the Israelites of what God had done for them at this event. This wasn't the first time that something was named in remembrance of an event that had occurred. In Genesis 28:10-19, Jacob has his well known dream where he sees a stairway to heaven and God standing at the top. Jacob wakes up from this dream he exclaims, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven" (vs. 17). He then takes the stone he had been using as a pillow, puts oil on it, and named the place Bethel, which means "house of God". This was to serve for future generations as a reminder of the event that had taken place there.

 On May 1st, 2011, I was baptized as a believer at South Church in Lansing Michigan. On a table in my apartment, I have a picture setup with me and a few others who were also baptized on that day. To me, baptism signifies the washing away of the old self, and the putting on of the new self. "The old has gone, and the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17). It signifies that I have died to self, no longer seeking to live for myself or my selfish desires, and that I have been made alive in Christ, to live for Him and His purposes. "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life" (Romans 6:1-4). It signifies that as I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me. This life that I now live shale be lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20). That picture serves as my Ebenezer, reminding me of what God has done for me at the cross and the new life I have been called to live. 

We all have gone through difficult times. We have all faced hardships and trials. We have all been at the point in our lives when we have wondered when we would make it through this season of tribulation. But we have all made it through those times. God had lead us through. God had reminded us of what He had done for us at the cross. God had showed us that He is still every bit as powerful of a God as He was in bible times. Never forget what God has done for you. Never forget that God has brought you through previous storms in life. Never forget the message of the cross. Never forget that God is still God and that He has unlimited power and blessings at His disposal. Never forget that He has called you to live for so much more than any plans, any goals, any aspirations you may have. Never forget.

What's your Ebenezer? 

Reference:

http://www.revneal.org/Writings/whatsan.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Come, thou fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;

Here by thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for thy courts above.