Altar Time

“Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.” Genesis 12:7 ESV

I knew a Bible teacher named Chuck Nelson. He used to tell the story of Abraham and his nephew Lot. As these two and their families traveled to the land of promise it is recorded that Abraham would encounter God and in that place of encounter, he would build an altar of stones to worship and remember God.

One day Abraham realized the land wouldn’t support both his and Lot’s families and herds. Abraham knew their two families needed to separate because they had grown so large. So, standing together on a mountain overlooking the plains and valleys, he gave Lot the choice of where to live. Lot chose the lush valley of the Jordan River, where the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were. Abraham went into the hill country.

We are all familiar with the legacy of Abraham, the Father of all those who live by faith in God. However, though Peter tells us Lot was a righteous man (2 Peter 2:7), his legacy includes barely escaping the judgement of God on Sodom and Gomorrah and losing his wife. Lot also got drunk and slept with his two daughters who had children by him. These children became the fathers of the Ammonites and Moabites that were constantly at war with the Israelites.

It is never recorded in scripture that Lot built an altar and worshipped God. He seemed to have survived on the faith of his uncle. It also seems that the habit of Altar time was key to Abraham's relationship with God. It formed Abraham’s life…and legacy.

Spending time with God each day is crucial. In fact, spending the whole day with God is our destiny. We could get used to His company and celebrate His presence. Maybe an Altar time each day is more important than we realize. It’s probably more important than breakfast!

I encourage you to begin each day with an Altar time of reading scripture, study, journaling, prayer, meditation, or silence before God. These disciplines can be used regularly and mark our lives as an altar does. Each discipline doesn't have to be done every day, but daily use of any of them, especially scripture and prayer, creates altars in our travels through life. They are building stones, too.

And Jesus is the cornerstone of our lives!

Altar Time! What will your legacy be?