What Is In Between You and The Altar?

We as people in a fallen world are constantly around those things that we have the option of exalting or lowering. It is a battle between the flesh and the spirit every single day. Nothing wrong with being in the battle. The issue lies when we give in to the flesh and make those things that we are constantly surrounded by an idol. By us exalting these things in our life we give access to the enemy to blind us and make us unaware of the idea that we are actually serving another god. We have actually made that thing the ruler of our hearts. We have ushered that thing to have a seat on the throne of our hearts. We have unknowingly allowed that thing to be our ruler.

What could that "thing" be?

Family

Friends

Material things

Job

Social media

Worry

Doubt

Fear

Yourself

All of these things could be an idol and blind your view of the altar.

What is an altar?

A place where sacrifices are made to God to honor Him. when that thing that is on the altar burns it brings a sweet smelling aroma to His nostrils.

Back then in the Old Testament TMH would require the levitical priesthood to burn animals on the altar to honor him. This was a physical act.

In the Old Testament this act was meant to:

Interact with God (worship)

Give Him time

Give Him effort

In the New Testament this is also seen where Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice for us physically and spiritually. We are image bearers so now we must be the offering. So we still do what the Levitical priesthood did; just not with an animal as the offering.

We became the offering.

No, I’m not saying go and offer you or your family member on an altar and light them on fire.

Let’s refer to scripture so we can get a better understanding

Romans 12:1

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Paul is making an urgent request to the believers to constantly be a sacrifice. He makes an interesting statement.

‘Living Sacrifice’

Well if something is sacrificed how can it be living?

The sacrifice is dying to itself in order to please God

The only thing is with believers today there are things (idols) hindering us from laying our lives down.

Deeper understanding on idols

Idols aren’t just statues

idols can be anything that takes the place of God in a person's life. An idol is anything that we put before God. What we don’t understand is we do this daily. We think idolatry is something that is not easily achieved when it actually can be.

We should love The Lord our God with all of our heart soul and mind. That’s not only verbally saying it. That’s not having the scripture remembered. That’s actually including God in your day. That’s actually including Him in everything you do. Idols prevent us from doing this.

God’s Displeasure with Idols

I also believe many of us don’t understand how displeased God is with idols. We see it most in the Old Testament. ( just because it is the Old Testament doesn’t mean it’s irrelevant). We may not indulge in some of those laws in the Old Testament but that does not mean we don’t acknowledge what was done.

Scriptural reference about God’s displeasure with idols (Old & New Testament)

Exodus 20:3: Thou shalt have no other gods before me

1 John 5:21: Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen

1 Corinthians 10:14: Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

Last verse referenced states ‘flee’ from idolatry.

What else are we supposed to flee from according to Paul? Sexual immorality. Just as we do our best to abstain from sexual sin we should do the same with Idolatry.

We see through these passages that an idol is something we hold to a higher esteem than God. An idol can do nothing and they can do nothing for you. God makes this very clear. The only thing they do is lead you astray. Take a look at Solomon and his issue with women. He allowed his love for the women to lead him away to serving other gods.

We must ask ourselves “ What is my goal?”

If it’s just to balance everything and keep God equal with other things in our life then you can be complacent. That’s between you and Christ. Just know you will be judged for the choices you make. Everything will be brought into account.

Know He will not become second to none so the choice you make will determine your destiny

BUT

if it’s to put God ahead of everything then tear the idols down

I mean quickly and with no mercy

Sounds harsh?

Good.

May we understand the God we serve

Scriptural Reference

Let’s consider The Ark of the Covenant and Dagon

1 Samuel 5

The Philistines carried the Ark into Dagon’s temple

They tried to make God submit to their idol by bringing the Ark into the temple. Reading this someone may think “how could they do that?”

How often do we do it today?

How often in times do we try to make God submit to the things we exalt

He will crush it. He will not bow down to what you exalt.

Micah 5:13-I will destroy your idols and your sacred stones from among you; you will no longer bow down to the work of your hands.

No matter how many times the Philistines kept trying to exalt their god, it kept falling

What do you think will happen when you try to exalt your idols above Him?

Moses exhibited what will happen with the golden calf that the Israelites built.

Exodus 32:20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

“I’m not setting up altars or creating golden images”

One might say “Well I’m not worshiping a graven image”. You don’t have a altar set up in your home and sacrifice to gods to be committing this sin.

Colossians 3:5

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry

So you see here that you don’t have to melt jewelry together and melt into a calf

You don’t have to have and altar with a statue where you burn sacrifices (physically)to actually sin.

Furthermore, the actual temple is our bodies. Where we offer these sacrifices are no longer man made buildings but rather in our temples.

1 Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

So who is ruling your building ?

Where your loyalty lies

Jonah 2:8

People who ·worship [cling to] ·useless [worthless; false] idols  ·give up their loyalty to you [or forfeit the mercy/lovingkindness that is theirs].

You are giving up your loyalty to Christ when you turn your back to idols

You made a commitment

If you truly valued the love someone gives you you would not break that commitment

Do we value the love of Christ ?

Is it real to you or is it just something you learned about and heard about?

Have you experienced it?

My Advocation for Christ

Why do we downplay what God does and who He is ?

We value conditional things more that the unconditional one

We put conditional things on a pedestal more than the unconditional one

Let’s go down the list

He is:

Holy -separate from the rest

He loves you - The holy One loves you

He wants to spend time with you

He is long suffering-many us is should be in a grave right now

He is mindful of you

You are His priority

He is slow to anger

If you ask me, you have a good Father

If a physical being upheld these characteristics we would think they were the best person in the world, so why don’t we give Christ His glory being that He is all of these things and more?

Christ has patience that’s incomparable

Think about how many times someone has done you wrong. We do the same to Him and He feels those exact feelings, but yet He still cares. Hebrews 4:15

Let’s get rid of our idols so that they are no longer “ours”; simply because He deserves it.