Altars in Life

Genesis 8: 20

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Psalm 51: 10-12, 17

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit… The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

An altar is a hallowed place where we commune with God. A holy ground, where we confess, pray and interact with our Lord. It can both be a physical and a mental place. In ancient days, people built altars to remind themselves of the times when God spoke to them. Genesis 8 records the first altar ever built by a man. Noah, his family and all animals when they came out of the ark, Noah built an altar and sacrificed all clean animals to the Lord. His heart must have been overwhelmed by God’s preservation of his family and a new world that God is charging him to take care of.

Abraham built altars whenever God spoke to Him. He offered his son Isaac on the altar he built on Mount Moriah. God saw his heart and instead of Isaac, He provided him with a ram. Abraham returned home with confidence that on the mountain of God, He provides. Isaac too built altars everywhere he sojourned. Jacob wrestled with God and built an altar to commemorate the blessing and promise he received. Job sacrificed regularly on the altar seeking God’s forgiveness if perchance he or his children may have sinned. David, who worshipped God at every chance he got, desired to have a permanent altar where he could worship the Lord in all grandeur. Daniel, in exile in Babylon couldn’t build an altar but he went on his knees, opened his window towards Jerusalem, and prayed to God Almighty.

As time went on, we see that the physical, individual altars disappearing. Man’s heart became the altar. It is not the physical structure that is important but the heart of man that is important. When Jesus Christ came into the world, He did not offer any sacrifices on any altar. For He Himself became the sacrifice. He condemned anyone who sacrificed on the altar if he didn’t mean it in his heart. He wanted men to focus on the condition of their hearts rather than the rituals of their lives. Those who believe in Lord Jesus Christ, their hearts are now altars. Jesus echoed the cry of David. God is more pleased in a broken and contrite heart than burnt offerings.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5: 3). A person who acknowledges that he is sinful, needs God to redeem him, lives each day for the Lord and His Kingdom, and remains devoted to God is a living, walking altar. Jesus Christ taught us that no matter where we are in life, if we seek the Lord with all our hearts, minds, bodies and strength, we will find Him. There, right there is the altar where God reaches down to us to be with us and commune with us. The altar is our heart – a beloved place of our Lord where He loves to dwell and speak with us. Only two sacrifices are required on this altar: blood of Christ, which He already shed and a broken and contrite heart to receive Him.

Jesus Christ paved the way for us to enter the Holiest of Holies by sprinkling His blood, and tearing open the curtain. Our altars can be physical structures which we may have built in our homes but it is the heart that our Lord seeks. Each day, when we go on our bended knees, it is the altar. In every activity, in every circumstance, when we seek the Lord, when we think of Him, that is the altar that we’ve built. While commuting, while cleaning the house, while chopping vegetables, while gardening, etc., when our hearts and minds are occupied by Him, there our altars are – altars of thanksgiving, praise, worship, and supplication. Because, that is the place God communes with His own. Build altars in your heart and they will be the God’s meeting places in your life.