Burning Altars by Deborah Oyelade

Leviticus 6:12 (KJV) And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn there on the fat of the peace offerings.

Thinking about "a burning altar", a lay man would probably say it's a place where woods are gathered and being burnt for a reason or simply, an altar that is burning.

The definition would be quite funny to a believer who is conversant with the word of God because with the help of the Holyspirit, a child of God should know that a burning altar means a life that is filled with the word of God, filled with the fire of the Holyghost and is always burning for things of the kingdom.

As there are different kinds of creatures in the world, as there are different kinds of fruits of the spirit, there are different kinds of altars or rather , I should say we all have an altar, I mean every human but what makes our altars different is what we have on it . 

According to an English dictionary, an altar is where something is being worshipped. If I want to take it from there, we have the same altars but we worship different kinds of things on it which are the things that determines whether our altar will continue to burn or not. An altar filled with nylons and papers won't burn for long like an altar with enough fire wood and extra firewood to replace the burning ones. Comparing the above statement with the word of God (the Bible) and a life without the word of God. The life without the word of God can be likened to nylons and papers which cannot uphold man for battles of life ahead, a life without the word won't be able to withstand the tortures of the fire.But , a life with the word of God which can be likened to firewood will be able to withstand the tortures of the fire to a meaningful extent and the more a person is filled with the word of God, the more firewood he gathers as extra. The person will never be able to finish the firewood as long as he doesn't back off or grow weary from studying the word of God to gain access to more mysteries of the fire (i.e the world). There are some characters in the Bible who were born with this firewood and their birth was based on the firewood with series of instructions on how to protect their extra firewood but some were carried away by the beauty of nylons and papers making them loose their firewood and they gave up something precious in exchange for what can never last because of their carelessness. An example of one of those characters is Samson, who was programmed with more than enough firewood from heaven and that was what qualified him as a Nazarite of God but he lost all of extra firewood that would help his altar of fire to continue burning because of an enjoyment with Delilah which did not last for long. Though,Samson had the opportunity to use his power on his enemies on his last day but not at the expense of his own life. He gave up firewood in exchange for the nylons he used on his last day. Do you know that the power he used on his last day was smaller compared to what God had in stock for him? But he lost his altar due to carelessness. 

Another Bible character is Saul who later became Paul .Saul had a burning altar before, even though it was filled with nylons and papers and that was why he was so agile and determined in persecuting the Christians.But God was interested in turning his altar into a furiously burning one for the kingdom of heaven.That was why God stopped him on his way to Damascus and he was given more firewood to replace his nylons. Paul continued to fill himself with the word of God, preaching to the Christians he was once after their persecution.Even though he suffered the consequences of his previous actions in different ways, he never stopped gathering firewood and he never stopped burning for God. Do you remember King David? He retained his burning altar and never let go. David was so much in love with God that he was called a man after God's heart .No matter how many times he sin against God, he always know the right words to say so much that God won't have a choice than to draw him closer to Himself and David will never go back to that same sin. David knows how and when to praise and worship God, and so he keeps his altar burning with firewood of praises and worships. David never lost any battle because he always follow the lead of the great warrior, the controller of fire. Judging from the characters I have talked about ,you can depict that ,Samson lost his burning altar due to carelessness, David retained his altar, never letting go, and Paul attracted and gained a furiously burning altar . The question is will you like ending up like Samson,like David or like Paul?

To keep your altar burning with firewood that will never run out, you must:

● Make your Bible your friend. Let the word of God be your part and parcel.
● Be careful of your company. Watch and pray, don't get carried away from your altar by things of this world. Guard your altar carefully.
● Do not desert the fellowship of the brethren. Learn and get wisdom on how to gather more firewood and how to remain on God's side.
● Listen to and obey instructions. Let the Holy spirit be your guide. Do not be wise in your own eyes.The holyspirit knows which type of firewood is best for your altar. Let the Holyspirit be the director of what you worship on your altar. 

Do you know that without the wisdom and the word of God, there won't be a burning altar to start with? What makes up your altar? Who do you worship on your altar? Is your altar filled with nylons, papers or fire woods? Even your firewood, are they capable of burning furiously ? Do you have enough fire wood to carry you through the journey of life? These are the questions you need to give answers to. If you can't provide answers to the questions, now is the time to go back to the source of the fire wood (God) to ask for the best firewood to make your altar burn furiously for His kingdom.

Shalom!