REPAIR THE ALTAR – Wednesday December 17th 2014

REPAIR THE ALTAR

Memorise: My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 1^st John 2:1

Read: 1^st Kings 18:29-34, Bible in one year: Esther 4-7, Ecclesiastes 10:8-20

When the Bible says that we are the temple of God in 1^st Corinthians 6:19, it implies so many things with respect to the features of the temple. One of the features of the temple of God is the altar. The altar is very significant in worship, in the sense that it symbolises the throne of God. The altar is where God abides and does whatever pleases Him. It is the place where He issues out decrees and orders the events that must take place in the universe. It is therefore interesting to realise that we are living temples and carriers of the throne where God exhibits His majesty. No wonder the Holy Spirit in 1^st Peter 2:5 said:

“Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”

In our Bible text, Elijah repaired the altar of God before offering sacrifice on it. There are a good number of lessons we can learn from this passage. For instance, there is the possibility of the altar of God being broken down. When a man, particularly a child of God sins, he or she breaks down the altar of God, since we are the temple of God. The fellow needs to repair the broken altar before he or she can make progress spiritually and physically. From the example of Elijah, you can see that it is possible for a broken altar to be repaired. Elijah repaired the broken altar before he offered his sacrifice on it. The result was answer to his prayers that came by fire. People of God must know that sin is alien to walking with God and so we must have zero-tolerance for sin. In case a child of God slips into sin, what should he or she do? The fellow must not stay in that fallen state and mourn his spiritual calamity. He or she must arise and repair the broken altar like Elijah did on behalf of the people of Israel. There are many altars in the life of a child of God that the devil may want to destroy. These include the altar of praise, the altar of prayer, the altar of faith, to mention just a few. By the time you finish repairing the altar, your insufficiency becomes history. When you repair the altar, your weakness becomes strength. As  you repair the altar of your faith today, the impossible will become possible for you (Matthew 17:20). As you repair the broken altar of God in your life today, may the Lord turn your lack to abundance in Jesus’ Name.   

Action Point

Take an inventory of your life and see where the altar of God has been broken down. Repair it by way of repentance, make restitution and cry to God for complete restoration.