“Then Elijah said to all the people: Come closer to me. The people approached him, and Elijah restored the altar of the LORD, which lay in ruins.”
1 Kings 18:30
It is time. Today. Time for what? To restore the altar.
Today, after Jesus’ sacrifice, we do not need to build a physical altar or offer and sacrifice animals, because WE are the altar, and our offering is our worship, our obedience. Did you know that you worship God every time you choose to obey him? However simple your action may be, anything you do that puts God above everything is an act of worship, and the Father sees it.
Yes, just as you are thinking: singing, praising, dancing and playing music are only some of the ways we express our worship of God, and we cannot limit worship to them. We know that praise expressed through songs and dances is a powerful weapon IN THE HAND OF A TRUE WORSHIPPER, breaking chains, healing, setting people free and bringing God’s presence. But who is a true worshipper? Someone who worships in spirit and in truth! What does that mean? Someone who obeys. Someone who humbles themselves before God. Someone who loves what God loves and seeks to hate what God hates.
If you want to be a worshipper whom the Father seeks, worshipping in spirit and in truth, ask the Holy Spirit to show you what in your life could amount to an altar to another god. A relationship, an addiction, a desire, unconfessed sins, guilt, trauma, a dream, the past, the future or even ministry—serving God—when done with the wrong motivation, at the wrong time or in the wrong way, differently from what God asked of you: all these things, among others, can become idols. When those idols are worshipped, altars are formed or established. As children and servants, we can no longer decide for ourselves what we will do, when we will do it and how. We need to hear God’s voice.
“Have mercy!” you might say. But that is exactly the point: you really should be startled. It is possible to be saved, a child of God, and yet not offer him pure worship because the altar is corrupted, compromised, distorted or destroyed. As other things are worshipped, the altar to God—your life in God—becomes compromised.
It is a time for restoration, rebuilding and transformation: true repentance. A time to kneel and cry out: “Holy Spirit, help me to see every altar raised to another god within me, for Jesus alone is my Lord and I want to give my worship only to him.” God takes a special interest in broken hearts, so however many altars there may be, come close to him. He alone can help you, pouring out his power so that you—yes, YOU—can destroy the pagan altars in your heart. This will require your participation and effort. Imagine yourself literally breaking an altar built to a god other than YHWH. Then, with the Holy Spirit’s help, restore your altar of worship and consecration to God. Declare that you belong to him in spirit, soul and body and that you will be guided by the Spirit of God, making your heavenly sonship visible.
Once the altar is restored, WORSHIP. Praise him, call upon his presence and ask him to fill every empty space in your being with his glory. Sometimes we long so much for God’s glory, do we not? But without a restored altar, the glory does not come; the presence fades, leaving emptiness. Restore your life today, right now, at Jesus’ feet.
Pastor Andressa Baumgartner
