Don't Chop on God's Altar

Exodus 20:25 - "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."

DON'T CHOP ON GOD'S ALTAR

An altar is a facility for worship. It is not the actual worship; but it is that which assists the progress of worship. We must have altars...but God says "Don't chop on 'em"!

When you find a stone for the building of the altar, don't try to reshape it or refine it. Take it like it is - simple and spontaneous. Even if its shape will make the altar look non-uniform or lop-sided, nevertheless leave it like you found it. If YOU try to make it different, even with good intentions, you have polluted it - and polluted altars make polluted worship!

Now the building of an altar does take SOME human organization - the stones will not just pile up together by themselves. You do have to make a song list and practice, for example. But we can go TOO FAR in how we try to enhance worship. And we've gone TOO FAR when a person can't even worship from their heart in the spirit because they have to mentally concentrate on all the enhancements!

The key ingredients of true worship are the sacrifice, the fire and the altar for the sacrifice. And along with order (I Kings 18:30), the altar must have simplicity. It must be simple enough for the heart (more than the head) to pour itself out freely and spontaneously in thanksgiving and adoration without the fear of being ticketed by the "rhythm police" or having one's eye poked out by one of the "accessories" of our enhanced worship machine!

The unenhanced stones of real worship may not win us an award for being "up with the times" or recognition on MTV for being "hip"; but they will certainly attract divine fire for the melodies that finally have the freedom to flow and for the ease with which the worshiper can focus on the sacrifice!

Organize...yes! But don't chop on the stones of God's altar! Let them be simple and spontaneous and uninhibited before their God. Talented or not, they will hold up the Lamb for a sweet fragrance to God! Hallelujah, that's worship!