Mar-20-0079-The heart of worship
79_The heart of worship Ex 20:22-26 And the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. 24 An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it. 26 And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’ In a small village church, the offering platter was being passed around. As it neared the row where a young girl sat, she longed desperately to give to the Lord. But she had not a single coin in her pocket. Suddenly her face brightened. She placed the platter on the floor as it came to her, and stood on it. In her eyes, she was offering herself to God. The congregation looked on in awe at the simple yet powerful expression of true worship. In Exodus 20:22–26, God instructed Moses about the altar immediately after giving him the Ten Commandments. At first glance, this sequence may seem unusual. The commandments reveal the holiness of God and are a representation of His glorious character. Why then does God shift focus to something earthy and tangible—the altar? God knows that humans often struggle to relate to abstractions. Therefore, he commanded his people to build him an altar, a physical means to express spiritual worship. Yet, in doing so, God warned Israel not to imagine His form in any material or finite terms. Even the most precious elements on earth, like gold and silver, are unworthy of representing His majesty. To equate God with anything earthly is to insult His greatness. Yet God directs his worshipers to the altar—a simple, unadorned place of sacrifice. The altar had no splendid outward appearance or intricate human craftsmanship. In fact, God forbade the use of shaped stones in the altar, emphasizing that worship is not about human effort or embellishment. Why then the emphasis on the altar? The answer lies in what the altar represents. Offerings and sacrifices are the heart of worship, where God comes to man and blesses him. True worship comes from the spirit, and is marked by heartfelt faith, love, and obedience. It is not about how much we give, or how great the gift appears. Worship pleases God when it comes from a heart of humble faith. Noah built the first recorded altar after the flood, to thank God and acknowledge his deliverance through the devastating flood that destroyed the old world. (Genesis 8:20). Abram, Isaac, Jacob, David, and many others built altars to commemorate sacrifices of thanksgiving, to call upon the Lord,