Stones for the altar

“And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.” Exodus 20:25

While faith without works is certainly dead… we have to be careful what those works are.  We all have an altar.  We offer sacrifice on it daily.  We may not realize it, but it is true.  And we must build (bring together) the stones for that altar.  And they need to be a certain type of stone.

Where is this altar?  What are these stones?

The altar is our heart.  The stones our confessions in Christ.

“Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD [is] contemptible.” Malachi 1:7

“The sin of Judah [is] written with a pen of iron, [and] with the point of a diamond: [it is] graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;” Jeremiah 17:1

“And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:16

This was Simon Peter’s confession.  And we see that Christ referred to this very confession as a rock, or a stone, on which He would bring together His church, His people.

“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  Matthew 16:18

But what is the difference between hewn stone and regular stone? 

When we try to add to, remove from, or make a confession fit into our lives, rather than our lives into the confession… we hew  it… we cut it and shape it.  The Lord does not want this type of stone.  He does not want our religion and our rules.  He does not want us to build another Babel.

He wants an honest, contrite, broken heart… that He can use.

Bring together your confessions in Christ.  Build an altar on which who you are is sacrificed daily to the One who deserves your all.

SDG