Memorise: My
little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man
sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 1
John 2:1. Continue...
When the Bible says that we are the
temple of God
in 1 Corinthians 6:19, it implies so many things with respect to the
features of the temple. One of the features of the
temple of God
is the altar. The altar is very significant in worship, in the sense that it
symbolises the throne of God. The altar is where God abides and does whatever
pleases Him. It is the place where He issues out decrees and orders the events
that must take place in the universe. It is therefore interesting to realise
that we are living temples and carriers of the throne where God exhibits His
majesty. No wonder the Holy Spirit in 1 Peter 2:5 said:
“Ye also, as lively stones, are
built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”
In our Bible text (below), Elijah repaired the altar of God before offering
sacrifice on it. There are a good number of lessons we can learn from this
passage. For instance, there is the possibility of the altar of God being
broken down. When a man, particularly a child of God sins, he or she breaks
down the altar of God, since we are the
temple of God.
The fellow needs to repair the broken altar before he or she can make progress
spiritually and physically. From the example of Elijah, you can see that it is
possible for a broken altar to be repaired. Elijah repaired the broken altar
before he offered his sacrifice on it. The result was answer to his prayers
that came by fire. People of God must know that sin is alien to walking with
God and so we must have zero-tolerance for sin. In case a child of God slips
into sin, what should he or she do? The fellow must not stay in that fallen
state and mourn his calamity. He or she must arise and repair the broken altar
like Elijah did on behalf of the people of
Israel. There are many altars in
the life of a child of God that the devil may want to destroy. These include
the altar of praise, the altar of prayer, the altar of faith, to mention just a
few. By the time you finish repairing the altar, your insufficiency
becomes history. When you repair the altar, your weakness becomes strength. As
you repair the altar of your faith today, the impossible will become possible
for you (Matthew 17:20). As you repair the broken altar of God in your
life today, may the Lord turn your lack to abundance in Jesus’ Name.
Action
Point: Take an inventory of
your life and see where the altar of God has been broken down. Repair it by way
of repentance, make restitution and cry to God for complete restoration.
Read: 1 Kings 18:29-34
29 And it came to
pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering
of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer,
nor any that regarded. 30 And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near
unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of
the LORD that was broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the
sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy
name: 32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a
trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. 33
And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on
the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt
sacrifice, and on the wood. 34 And he said, Do it the second time. And
they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it
the third time.
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