Are you reading the Bible through with me? Grab your pen and journal, and get ready to write your thoughts as you journey through the Bible.
Today read Exodus 25-27. In these chapters you will find a description of the tabernacle that God told Moses to build. This was to be a church, a sanctuary or habitation for God.
Just because they were living in the wilderness didn’t mean that they did not need to continue to worship the Lord. The instructions were precise; people were supposed to give personal items of value to create what was needed for this beautiful place. It was the early version of the temple that would be built in the future.
The Israelites set up their tent homes facing the tabernacle, so God’s sanctuary was the center of their community and lives.
In 27:1, God then told the people to “Make an altar. . .” This altar was the place they were to meet God and make sacrifices to him.
The Hebrew word for altar means a “place of sacrifice” or place to surrender. This altar, or Arc of the Covenant, was also supposed to be built per God’s instructions, and it would hold the Ten Commandments, God’s rules and laws.
How does this apply to us? Each one of us needs a place, a personal altar, where we can pull away from the distractions of life and meet with God. It needs to be a time and place where we surrender our selfish ways and remind ourselves of God’s laws. We need a place where we can submit ourselves again and again to the Lordship of Jesus. That place and time with God needs to be the center of your life.
Do you have such a place, a “War Room” where you meet the Father to get His help in battling burdens? Are you keeping that appointment with Him every day and sacrificing your time to be with Him?
Make that place and time! Take your Bible, your devotional guide, commentaries, concordance, prayer journal and anything else you think you might need; BUT, leave the electronic devices out of arm’s reach so that you can concentrate on God, His word, and your prayer.
Pray: Discipline me, Lord, to make my daily visit to my altar to humble myself, be strengthened through Your word, and to offer prayers of praise, confession/repentance, gratitude and intercession.
