Noah Built An Altar First

Noah built an altar to the LORD.

Genesis 8:20 (GW)

The first time we see the word altar in the Bible is in Genesis 8. Noah’s number one priority on leaving the ark was to build an altar of sacrifice. We should take note of this as it speaks to the significance of such an act for our lives. What you do first in your life determines what follows it. Is your heart an altar to the Lord? Is it a place where you consistently meet the Lord to offer sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving?

Transformation is the sign of a person who knows the Lord. It is not an outward change due to behavior modification but an inward alteration that lasts a lifetime. If you want to change who you have become, build an altar to God, and He will alter you. First, you must look at yourself and see what needs to change. Is it your anger, moodiness, or perhaps laziness? Does alcohol, porn, or drugs rule over you? Worry and fear may be your constant companions, and you are now at a place where you want them to leave. Whatever addiction or habit of sin that surrounds you is there because you have built an evil altar to which they attend. Tear down the evil altar and, in its place, make a holy one for the Lord.

Repentance will tear down any evil altar in your life. The Lord destroys only to build something beautiful in its place. Gideon was heavy with fear and despair. And yet God chose him to rescue Israel from the Midianites, who were the source of his disappointments. The Lord told him to demolish his father’s altar to Baal and then to replace it with His holy altar. He obeyed, and God used Him mightily, fulfilling the purpose of his life. Has your life exploded with an unexpected turn of events? Are you carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders? Take the rocks out of your backpack and make an altar of sacrifice to the Lord with them. On that altar, offer your gift of whatever you lost and give God your thanks and praise. Your God will come as a blazing fire to destroy all that torments you and keeps you from living your life for His glory.