Everywhere throughout scripture we see that God established for His people to give him a sacrifice. Your sacrifice was dependent on the situation that brought you before God. There were specific prescriptions and protocols for each situation.
Whether you are coming before the Lord regarding a sin or to give thanks, there was a specific offering assigned to each situation. For the birth of a first born, for guilt or for thanksgiving; each has their own predetermined sacrifice and it’s procedure.
Some sacrifices require an animal from a select list of creatures whereas some sacrifices were grain and others oils or wine offerings.
Some had to be burnt, some had to be poured out and others had to be splattered but the thing that they all had in common was that they all had to be presented to God at His altar.
So, the occasion and reason for the sacrifice could easily differ but the location where the sacrifice was brought could never be changed or compromised… it had to be brought to the altar.
Today, we can sacrifice our finances and goods and as King David said our hearts have now been added to the list. Again, the reasons and the occasions may vary but the location has still not changed. Do you know God still requires an altar for sacrifice?
Most churches have an altar. You can kneel at the altar and pray at the altar but the real altar of sacrifice is a spiritual altar.
I hope the altar of your church has been dedicated and is in use; meaning it receives regular offerings of worship, praise and prayer to Yahweh who is Emmanuel God with us; Jesus Christ the Holy one.
Did you know you can build your own altar to the Lord? Like many of the Bible heroes Abraham, Jacob, Gideon, Solomon etc, they built altars to the Most High.
Now, dear readers, is the time to build your altar to the Lord. A place where you regularly, even daily, bring your sacrifice of worship, praise, time, and heart spilled out before the Great I AM.
King David understood this quite well. He explained in Psalms 40:6-7 that “Sacrifices and offerings are not what please you; gifts and payment for sin are not what you demand. But you made me willing to listen and obey.” He later added “The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. You will not despise a broken and humbled heart, God”.
In John 4:24 Jesus said “For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” I know that you know that we do not need to go to Jerusalem to offer our sacrifices to God but the Lord does have a spiritual altar where he is waiting for that part of you that you bring to him to that place where humanity meets divinity. That place where you lay down the fruit of your labour, the place where you bring your broken heart, your humbled spirit and you lay, pour it, present it and sometimes kill your flesh before God.
Dear readers, I
encourage you to build an altar to the Lord and go to it every day.
Pastor Julianna Daniel
www.hopfanqc.ca
