May 26, 2012
If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it. - Exodus 20: 25
The world is set on remaking God in their image, to suit their own sin, and to make themselves feel better about the rebellion they are living in. Unfortunately, we can often try to do the same within the church as well. We can see preachers presenting a candy coated Gospel where everyone is going to be supernaturally blessed and other preachers that sow a Gospel devoid of the love of Christ -- and love is His principle message through salvation. Both are poor representations of God and ultimately do not serve the true cause of Christ. We do not want a plethora of people who think they are saved but in reality there has been no regeneration of the heart as much as we do not need a plethora of people who have been scared into saying a prayer that they do not mean.
The truth of the matter is that once we have devoted our life to Christ our storms do not stop -- if anything they intensify. But we have the peace of God to weather those storms and grow in Him. But the reality that escapes many in the church today is that our Christianity should require something of us. It should continue to require something from us as we grow in our walk and deepen our relationship with Christ. There should always be a sacrifice of "me" for "Thee." The key verse today is all about sacrifice. It is taken from the same chapter where God gave the Ten Commandments. In it He is being very specific with the Israelites about how they should approach Him for sacrifice.
This verse incorporates some important truths we need to grasp as believers today beyond the traditional thinking of sacrifice. God expects a sacrifice of our hearts, not our words:
And so the Lord says, "These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote. -- Isaiah 29: 13 (NLT)
Our hearts reveal where our true loyalties lie. Our hearts encompass what we care about, spend our time on, devote our thought life to, and where our priorities rest. What the Prophet Isaiah is saying is still true today in far too many churches and lives of believers. We can handle the lip service without a problem. We can get together once or twice a week in a corporate setting and say and do all the right things. We can wear our Sunday best and praise God with our mouths only to go home and live like the devil the rest of the week. Or we can go home and simply not know enough about how our Christian life should be to claim any victory over the enemy. Here is God speaking through the Prophet Hosea:
My people are being destroyed because they don't know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children. -- Hosea 4: 6 (NLT)
A heart focused on God becomes familiar with God. A heart focused on God; knows God. Knows what His Word says and is concerned about the things of God not the desires of the flesh. A heart after God comes to Him with a sacrificial mindset. The key verse implores us that if we are going to build an altar for God, if we are going to approach God with sacrifices, then we should not build it with dressed stones. The idolaters of that age would use dressed stones for their altars. They would take the earthen stones and "pretty them up." They would paint the stones, polish them, or shape and mold them. God however was more interested in the sacrifice than the altar upon which it was offered. He was more interested in the heart than the words.
Unfortunately today we see a lot of churches built with pretty stones. Stones that are adorned greatly, shaped to perfection, and polished until they are nice and shiny. Likewise we have a great many Christians struggling in their walks despite the prettiness of their altars. They have built their altar to perfection. They never miss church, donate their time and money to help people, and may even serve in leadership. But behind the pretty altar is a life devoid of sacrifice. They have been unable to sacrifice the things of this world to the God they serve. They still struggle with the very sin issues Jesus died on the cross to give us victory over because they are more concerned with maintaining the image of their altar than they are in putting their hearts upon that altar. The result is very well adorned Christians who walk in no power and no victory. The result is well adorned churches that look the part and sound the part but lead no one into true relationship with Jesus Christ. It is all a show. It is all adornment for the stones of the altar we have created.
Lastly, the key verse explains that it is the act of using man made tools upon the natural stones that defiles it. The NLT says that it makes the altar unholy. That is because it distorts what the truth really is. God does not want the prettiest stones. He does not need the shiniest and well shaped stones. He requires the humble, contrite, and repentant hearts -- not the ones that spend more time decorating the altars in their lives than they do in sacrificing their flesh upon those altars. It is never about the show for God but rather the substance. In the Old Testament people would tear their clothing as a sign of grief before the Lord. Yet through the Prophet Joel we see even this became corrupted:
Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. -- Joel 2: 13 (NIV)
Now, did God not want people to rend their garments? No -- that was not the issue. What was the problem is that the act of rending the clothing became a showy spectacle instead of a sincere gesture of the heart. It had become a "look at me moment" instead of a "look at God moment." It had become adorned -- a pretty altar devoid of true sacrifice. So God said to return to Him. How? By rending your hearts. That is what God is seeking today. He is seeking a people that have hearts torn asunder before Him -- sacrificing the desires of the flesh upon a humble altar. Let us strive for that in our lives and in our churches.
Rev. Anthony
