The Israelites would create an altar at a place where they wanted to remember God, or if they intended to worship the LORD, at that location
Initially, they would create these altars from unhewn stone because it needed no tools. However, as time progressed, the Israelites wanted to create altars from hewn stone, which basically meant that they used to mark the stone with carvings of man or animals. This became problematic because the emphasis became more about the hewn stone rather than worshipping the LORD
“If you use stones to build my altar, use only natural, uncut stones. Do not shape the stones with a tool, for that would make the altar unfit for holy use.”
Exodus 20:25
How many of us today, are spending more time worshipping false idols innocently, than God himself?
What I mean by this is, we might have a cross necklace that has to be worn. Or maybe, we have created a little ritual in order to worship God. The issue isn’t that we are proud to be a Christian or even that we eventually worship our LORD, but more, God told the Israelites that they should build an altar to remember Him, but not to create something that takes their wholehearted worship away
Friends, our thoughts, feelings, and emotions, are some of the ways that, unfortunately, take us away from God
Our initial intention to worship God might be good, but if we are faffing around in order to do so, is our mind really on worshipping God, or being distracted by the minor details that we feel we need? Like…the right song…the right atmosphere…or even, the right place – wherever we think it needs to be…have we begun to idolise an altar, rather than God?
Today, we are so fortunate in the western world to worship God wherever we choose, but it’s remembering that Christ is the only altar that we’ll ever need, because He is ultimate Sacrifice, so there is no reason to idolise anything else
That means that we can come to God when in the shower, in the mall, in the car, at work, and even at church, but my point is, we no longer need to build another altar, because Jesus made the perfect One for us to come to God, always
Today, Christ is our altar
read Hebrews 13:10
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