Burning Altars by Glory Oyesiji

Every living creature has a unique feature of breathe in relation to their heart but what makes man distinct is the consciousness and ability to make choices. Man naturally possess these qualities because we were created in the likeness of God and He desires to have fellowship with us.

However, one thing is required of man to have fellowship with the Father, which is his heart and this is because everything that man does is first birthed from the heart. Due to our ability to make choices, we can decide to give our heart to God or the devil. Concerning this, our choices can only be one of the two.

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Furthermore, a heart given to God is to be consecrated as an altar for Him alone. Our heart must be an altar where the offering of holiness, righteousness, peace and so on must always burn for God. A consecrated heart is an altar of incense unto God where the offering He desires must always burn and rise to Him.

Moreover, what quenches the fire on the altar that is burning for God is sin. It is what we feed our minds with that goes to our heart that determines the true state of our heart.

For the heart to consistently burn, it requires constant meditation on the Word of God, effective prayer life, godly thoughts, righteous living and setting our gaze on Jesus. Our altars can only keep burning if these needed fuel are given to it.

Also, for an altar to consistently burn, there is a need for self-evaluation and this can be birthed through intentionality. Just as the herbalists ensure that the fire in their power room burn at all times and will do anything to keep it burning, believers must also be intentional in keeping the fire on the altar of their heart burning.

There is a need for us to always evaluate how the race of our Christian faith is going in order not to be drifted away. And until we do this, we cannot know the amount of fuel we need to keep burning. Just as a competent driver is expected to check the amount of fuel inside the car before embarking on a journey to avoid being stranded, so should it be for every believers.

In addition, Ephesians 6:16 says, "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one". My emphasis is on ... 'the fiery darts of the wicked/evil one,' which means that every other principalities also have a fire that they are fanning to flame and there is a need for us to do something to quench their fire which is 'taking the shield of faith.'

To take the shield of faith means to cover or protect ourselves with everything that accompany the journey of faith (prayer, God's Word, righteousness, holiness, fruit of the Spirit and so on) and it is only through these things that we can overpower all other powers. We are to have all these in our hearts which is an altar that ought to always burn.