Volume 43      Number 1                                                                                  September 2000

Abraham, the man who became the friend of God as well as the father of the faithful, was an altar builder. When God would appear to him and bestow on him a blessing, a promise, or a commission, he would build an altar and worship. All of us need to be altar builders.

The Bible does not tell us very much about these altars that Abraham built. It is not important that we know everything about their architecture or construction. They symbolize a great truth and point out a basic need in our lives. Abraham built altars when he worshiped or when he moved from one place to another.

For the Christian, an altar can be either a place, an attitude or a time when his/her thoughts and emotions are directed toward God. Like Abraham, anytime we pause to offer worship to God we are building a spiritual altar to Him. “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24) We do not have to be in some specific place before we can worship, for God is a spirit who cannot be restricted to a specific place. While man is limited to one place at one time he also has a spirit and can worship God at any time or in any place.

We need to build altars that will call us to the holy privilege of prayer. As we do, we will find that those altars become places and opportunities to offer to God the praise of our hearts and lips. As time is spent in deep heart searching and consideration of the blessings of God upon us, there will come about a deeper and more meaningful dedication of our time, talents, treasure and testimony to the purpose of God.

There can be no doubt that it was because Abraham was an altar builder that he found the fellowship and friendship of God so wonderful. His faith was strengthened by this so that he was able to believe when others would not have believed. Great strength came to him through worship by which his inner man was kept strong.

Fear captures the inner parts of the soul when we neglect to worship. We are not told of Abraham building an altar while he was in Egypt (Gen. 12:10-20). This most likely explains the reason for the fear that came over him during this part of his life.

When fear captures the heart and the emotions it is indicative of the fact that faith is either absent or that it has faltered. Faith must increase, it can grow, it can be developed and strengthened. There can be a growth in faith only as men give themselves to worship. Worship is something infinitely more than just going to services and listening to a good sermon. Worship is the response of the soul of man to God as He reveals Himself in any of a multitude of different manners.

Jesus “spoke a parable to them that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.” (Luke 18:1) The truth is that men will both give up and at the same time cave in if they do not pray. By the building of altars along the way, a Christian strengthens their faith, increases their joy, maintains their spiritual vitality and guarantees a continuing Christian witness.

Many altars have already been built or are ordained as places and times for worship. The body of believers you meet with to come together as the children of God for public worship is a divinely ordained altar. Stay close to other believers. Love them sincerely and steadfastly. Be sure to remember that God’s family is a human family and consequently never let the sins of other members cause you to stumble or neglect your altar of worship. Pray for the unity of God’s people. Pray for and participate in the work of your local congregation as it carries on a crusade for our Lord.

Another altar where God would meet us is in the scriptures of the Bible. God will speak to meet the deepest needs of our hearts as He did those of Abraham if we will but listen to His authoritative Word. The bible is not just a history of what happened in the long ago. It is also a revelation of what God will do and what we can become today if we will but worship and work in cooperation with our Creator and Redeemer. There should be an altar in every home. If at all possible the family should have a time each day for reading the Word of God and offering prayers of praise, thanksgiving and requests for guidance. If our children never experience the altar at home, how can we expect them to understand its significance. Each individual member of the family should be taught and encouraged to build their own altar. This can be done at many different times during the day. We can set aside individual time as we start our day or as we end it. We can find a place or time of solitude during our lunch break or other points in our day. As the saying goes, where there is a will there is a way. If you want to find a time and place to build an altar, you will be able to.

May God meet with you and bless you as you build your altars.