“Remember, you must not make any idols of silver or gold to rival me.
Build for me an altar…wherever I cause my name to be remembered,
and I will come to you and bless you.”
Exodus 20:23-24
God had just presented the Ten Commandments to His people, those rules of relationship. It's interesting to note that the very next issue God addressed also proved that relationship truly IS His priority!
That next instruction came in two parts: (1) don’t make any idols to rival Me and (2) build altars for Me. God wanted no image placed alongside of Him…He has NO equal. So, instead of making idols to RIVAL God, the people were to build altars FOR God. Specifically, build simple altars. The focus was not to be on the beauty of the altar, but on the beauty of the One who would be worshipped there.
Where were such altars to be built? Wherever GOD caused HIS name to be remembered. So today, wherever God gives you a glimpse of who HE is, whether in the Word, through a song, or from the stillness of His presence, don’t let that site become an idol, instead make it an altar of worship. Those altars may be in a recliner, beside a couch, on the floor at the foot of a bed, on a sidewalk, or in a vehicle…wherever you and God meet, that’s your personal altar…and THAT is exactly where God promised, “I will come to you and bless you.”
Don’t forget that promise today as you run to the altar you built!
