I really love the glimpse that we get in Genesis of the relationship that Abraham had with God. I love the fact that in every new place that God asked him to go, he built an altar to the Lord there – consistently and without hesitation. Six different times in twelve chapters that record Abraham’s life and walk with God, he made it a point to call on the Lord and to commemorate His work with an altar.
12:7 – “Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.”
12:8 – “And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel… there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.”
13:4 – “And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning… to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord.”
13:18 – “Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the Lord.”
21:33 – “Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.”
22:9 – “Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, up on the wood.”
Abraham didn’t hesitate to build an altar and worship God.
He didn’t hesitate to listen when God spoke.
He didn’t hesitate to be obedient when God commanded.
He didn’t hesitate to make the greatest sacrifice of all, when God asked him to place on an altar, Isaac, his only son, whom God Himself had promised to give to him. And God spared Isaac’s life because Abraham’s unhesitant willingness to obey and sacrifice something so precious to him proved that his reverence for God was greater than anything else in his heart. This is the same God that I worship, and He wants the same thing from me. (“‘Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.” 1 Samuel 15:22).
Abraham.
never.
hesitated.
I want to do that.
I want to be like that.
I want to love God as much as he did.
I want to “build an altar” at every new point in this life, and I want to not hesitate to sacrifice the things that are important to me, “that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8).
I want to worship with dedication, submit without reservation, and obey without hesitation.
The key word there is “want” because the reality is that I do hesitate.
And I ignore.
And I disobey.
And I definitely hold onto things when their rightful place is on the altar, at the feet of Jesus.
How thankful I am for Abraham’s example of what it looks like to live with such integrity, consistency and selfless obedience. It speaks volumes of his character and how much his heart was intwined with God’s, fully committed to loving and submitting to Him above all else, no matter what it required of him. By the grace of God, it can be done in me, too, as He continues to sanctify me “to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).
I’ve started asking God what He wants to teach me about “building an altar;” what He might want that to look like in my life. So far Abraham’s example has served as a fierce reminder to maintain a posture of surrender with all things, and to let God cultivate in me a heart that fears Him above all, no matter what it requires of me.
And then I read Genesis 15:1.
(to be continued)