Years went by and the Israelites became complacent and took the presence of the Lord for granted. Their appreciation for the reality of God dwelling among them dimmed and they began to think in similar terms to the idolatrous nations around them. The ark of the covenant was treated as a mere religious relic and a decorative good luck charm. They therefore reasoned to remove it from Shiloh and bring it with them in their war against the Philistines (1 Sam. 4:3).

This backfired of course, for God will not suffer His glory to be viewed with such triviality. God’s blessing is not to be our fallback plan after we have done things our own way and things have gone wrong. God dwelling among them was meant to effect a change in them and make them a light to the Gentiles. The Lord allows the ark of the covenant to be taken by the Philistines, and over the course of time, He shows both the Philistines and the Israelites that they are not to compare His glory with anything else.

How often have we slipped into the same mindset! We let the preciousness of our relationship with God, the nearness, the privilege, even the joy grow cold; we fall into mundane routines, and this ritualism is dishonoring to God. We are called to be lights in the world (Phil. 2:15), and this is only possible as we keep our gaze on Christ.