1.70. TODAY’S ALTARS

TODAY’S ALTARS

When I preach in services across the country, I think of the altars of God. When we come to the front altar of a church and pour out our hearts to God, we are not ashamed of Him. A dedicated altar is one place where we can be in the presence of God, where we can call on Him and confess our sins, asking Him to forgive us. Many of us feel His awesome presence there! We can know He answers our prayers. At times we can feel His arms around us. There is something wonderful about the altars-the old- fashioned altars of God-in churches. There you can go and kneel and just worship the Lord. You can praise God at home, too. You can do it in your car. You can praise Him anywhere. However, let me tell you something: the altar is a definite place for an appointment to commune with Him intimately. When the Old Testament prophets made altars to God, they cried out and repented to God for the sins of the people as well as for their own sins. At the altar they repented and offered blood sacrifices on behalf of the people, and God accepted their sacrifices. Since Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for our sins through His shed blood, we no longer need to offer sacrifices. However, we still need to repent when we are convicted of sin, and one of the best places to do that is at an altar. When we see a dedicated church altar, we should kneel at it and pray to God, if it is possible. It means so much to have an altar. We need one in our homes, so we can talk to God and have a place just to be with Him. When I preach I always tell the people, "Don’t be ashamed to come to this altar. Here God will meet you." Yes, He can meet you in your seat. Nevertheless, there is something about a sanctified and often-used altar where you can humble yourself, raise your hands, and say, "God, here I am. Take me. Use me for Your glory."