Altars

Today’s Passage: Exodus 20:24

“You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings…in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you.”

Words of Devotion

On Mount Sinai, God gave Moses an important guarantee: That“in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you.” What a powerful promise! A promise of God’s blessing! 

But there was a condition: They must remember His name.

The Lord instructed them to build an altar and make offerings. Altars were places to remember Him—where they would stop their daily routines and focus on God Himself. These altars would be places to make offerings to demonstrate that they really trusted in Him and that He was more important than their possessions or anything else.

This principle still is true. God still promises to bless us. But we, too, must remember Him. We, too, need to build “altars” and make sacrificial offerings. 

It is too easy to become attached to our possessions, clinging on to them for ourselves. But God challenges us to place Him first and trust in Him to meet our needs. 

What are “altars” for us? These could be places where we focus on God, or simply the throne of our hearts and minds. On these altars, we have an opportunity to remember and honor God. In addition to giving specific financial offerings and dedicating our possessions to Him, we can give Him our projects and plans…our thoughts and desires…our whole lives. This kind of commitment unlocks His favor and His blessings.

Today, spend time with God, and make it a time of remembrance. Then place your life on the altar before Him. Make it clear that He is more important than anything else. And make your life a living sacrifice. Then, as you trust in Him and serve Him, be ready to enjoy the blessing of His presence and provision.

Today's Prayer: Father, I commit my life to You. I dedicate my time, talent, and treasure to You. I owe everything to You. Use me for Your Kingdom and glory. In Jesus’ name Amen