Altars |
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We have an altar… Heb. 13:10 Altar: a place to meet God… a place to hear His word… where our thinking is corrected …where our thoughts are straightened out…where our sins are forgiven. John discovered an altar in a cave under the Pacific Ocean. He had done a foolish thing. Against all of his scuba diving training he had entered an underwater cave without benefit of a guideline to retrace his entry. Nor had he taken a buddy with him. Soon he was lost in a dark maze of tunnels with only a small light to guide him. He wanted to scream! He could not find his way back to the entrance. His air supply was nearly exhausted. In desperation he ascended to the cave’s ceiling. Here he found a small air pocket and a moment of calm for himself. He knew he was a dead man. He was lost nearly a hundred feet below the ocean. Usually, in these situations the only way out of a cave was as a fatality. Then things took an eerie turn. Small and medium-sized sharks apparently living in this cavern began to nudge and bump against his legs. Were they sizing him up? His heart went through his chest! Minutes went by before panic exhausted him. With tears he began calling out to Jesus. Great peace washed over him as he made that place an altar. Sin after sin was unloaded from his hard heart. He met with the Lord who forgave and cleansed his life. In this watery altar he dedicated himself back to God with the promise of never returning to a casual Christian life. Altars in history were located both in wilderness areas and in sanctuaries. This was a foreshowing of the day when a person could meet with God anywhere, not just in sacred spaces. God can also be found anytime, not just on sacred days. There have always been false altars created by man. They are sterile places. God does not meet with men there. Jesus is the only true altar for humankind because only He can forgive sin. He alone died for sin. While altars in the Old Testament were made of rock, bronze or gold, in the New Testament it is the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ, which fashions our altar. He alone is the meeting place for God and people. Altar calls need not be so dramatic as John’s. I would just as soon bow my head to the Lord within the comfort of my living room or church, thank you! But altar calls are needed. Entire organizations, denominations and churches often need an altar call where they can meet with God through Jesus Christ and come away changed. Our homes and marriages need altars. You and I need altars again and again throughout our life, meeting over and over with the Lord to be cleansed, renewed, and changed. You might be wondering about John. After his meeting with the Lord and with very little air left in his air cylinder he took a desperate and final plunge back into the dark waters praying for a way out. Soon he found himself in a cavernous room with numerous sharks quietly lying on the bottom of the cave and all facing in the same direction—out! Swimming as quickly as his fins would take him, his exit was also an entrance. John’s underwater altar was the place where he terminated his old self and began a new life as a committed Christian. Reflections: For Further Study: © 2003 by Tom Gaddis
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