YOUR CHOICE…
Do you realize you have a choice in how your life is going? Or that you have the ability to impact future generations? The idea of this hit me hard last week listening to the sermon at church and then even more discussion about the topic in our small group. Our pastor used the term “altar builder” and that was a huge punch in the stomach to me.
I was raised in a good family. We had our struggles like every family does, but overall, my childhood was uneventful until I was a teenager. We attended church, my father forced me to pray with him almost daily at times and generally had a good life overall. In my early teen years, I lost my father. I lost the man who I was looking up to the most. I lost hope. I lost faith in church. I learned a lot from my father as a child. Some things I still look back on and cherish, others not so much. One thing I didn’t learn from him was to be an altar builder.
Being an altar builder means to realize that we are not in full control of our lives. If we think we are in control, normally things end up going sideways at some point. Realizing that our lives, success, happiness, etc., are all dependent on how we give everything away. We must give away our desire to fully control everything. That obviously doesn’t mean just sitting back and waiting for instructions. It means working hard but also being aware of the different directions and opportunities that are being directed towards you.
See, I wasn’t taught to be open to change. I was taught there was a right and wrong way to do things, work hard, and success is determined by how well YOU perform. Lately, I have been challenged into changing that belief. I am now seeing that the only way to be truly successful, is to be open to God’s direction for your life. Seize opportunities to help others. Be there for people in your circle. But most importantly, be open to being led.
Being an altar builder will have an effect way bigger than yourself. It will show others around you that there is something different about you, about the way you operate, and how you perceive things in the world. It is a new concept for me, and it is hard to implement in my life so far. I struggle with taking charge spiritually in my family. I still struggle to give everything to God and look to him for advice first in times of trial.
I want my son to grow up with a better view of what a man is. I want everyone around me to see that even someone who has been lost for most of their life can be used by God to help others. I am not special, I am not perfect, and honestly, I feel inadequate to even be writing this blog. I am obedient though. I see this as the start of me being an altar builder. It has taken over a year of me writing these to realize it.
Being an altar builder has nothing to do with actually building an altar. It has everything to do with bringing yourself, just as you are, to God and allowing yourself to be used for his benefit.
This week, look at the intentionality of your choices. See what purpose you are serving with your actions and thoughts. It doesn’t matter where you are now, it only takes a single decision to get yourself on a new path.
Exodus 2; 24-26 NLT
24 “Build for me an altar made of earth, and offer your sacrifices to me—your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and goats, and your cattle. Build my altar wherever I cause my name to be remembered, and I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you use stones to build my altar, use only natural, uncut stones. Do not shape the stones with a tool, for that would make the altar unfit for holy use. 26 And do not approach my altar by going up steps. If you do, someone might look up under your clothing and see your nakedness.
These verses can be broken down into so much more meaning than it looks like on the surface. If you are interested in hearing the message that inspired me to think about this all week, let me know and I will send you a link to it.
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