"Altered View of the Altar"

Most of us have been in a church service in which an altar call was mad. It think by being in so many services with altar calls of varying reasons, I formed an idea of reasons to go to the atar. Accepting Chris, wanting to be baptized, major life tragedies, and repentence were just a few reasons, I in my head, had deemed "altar worthy" causes. Well, God really started working in me on this about a year or so ago. I started seeing the altar as a place of total surrender to Him, an outward representation that I was forgetting all those people behind me and looking to God. I twas my way of saying, "Lord, my life is in your hands alone and I am physically demonstrating it." The altar became my "hiding place. But, God is always offering us insight and revelation and this Sunday my view of the altar was altered again.

Up until this point I used the altar tas a place to bring my requests to the Lord, ask for forgiveness, pray for change, and knowledge of His will. The past month I have made many an altar visit---praying, crying, and earnestly seeking His will for my life. As usual, God moved in an amazing way! Each service, our church has a "call to prayer" before the message, where the altar is open. This past Sunday, I sat int h pew and thought about how thankful I was that God was really moving and guiding me as I had asked. Then I realized that the altr is just as much a place of thanksgiving and praise as it is a place to sacrifice and petition. Immediately, I walked ot the altar, knelt and thanked God for the works He had done and will do. I was humbled. Let me tell you, it is one thing to thank God, but it is even more awing to thank HIm from your knees ( the same postition in which you plead for forgiveness).

Now, I can't take credit for this idea of thanking God at the altar. It is no new concept. In fact, the Old Testament is filled with stories of the Hebrew people building altars to God for prayer, petition, and when they were victorious, thanksgiving. These altars they built were physical reminders of what the Lord had brought them through. It was a reminder of God's goodness and faithfulness. It is awe inspiring to sit back and think of the many times God has worked in a mighty way in my life and all the "altars" I could have built in remembrance of Him.