Spend time at the altar

[notice]A monthly column by farmer, preacher and writer  for Jesus, Angus Buchan[/notice]

Early this morning while having my quiet time with the Lord I read from the book of Exodus 30.  God specifically gave instructions to Moses as to how he was to build the altar.  The details were quite amazing.  I realized that God needs us to meet Him at the altar every single day.  It has got to be the very first place in our lives every morning when we wake up. Why? Because it is at the altar that we receive our instructions for the day’s work ahead.

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The Lord told Moses to instruct Aaron the high priest to make sure that the lamps never go out.  There was never to be darkness at the altar. In John 8:12, Jesus says He is the Light of the world.  He says the more time that we spend at the altar in the morning, the more Light there will be in our lives. When we neglect the altar, we start to walk in darkness.  There may be people reading this column at the moment who feel they are walking through a dark place in their lives.  I want to encourage you that when you go through those valleys of darkness, you need to get up earlier in the morning and spend more time at the altar.  Every time I have found myself in a dark valley and a difficult time, I get up earlier in the morning.  I don’t spend less time with God, I spend more time with Him.

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I remember the incredibly difficult time that I went through when I lost my little nephew who tragically fell of a tractor that I was driving and he was killed.  I remember every single morning waiting for the alarm clock to go off, so that I could run up to my farm office, which was where my place of meeting with God (my altar) was.  Every single day the Lord would meet me there and I would receive manna (food) from Heaven, fresh every day and that would sustain me for the day.  It has become a habit (a good habit) in my life and I would encourage each one of you reading this article to please spend more time at the altar. That is what sustained the Israelites during their forty year journey through one of the most merciless deserts in the whole world.  God led them towards the Promised Land  and it was the time spent at the altar, which sustained and strengthened them to face each day until their Promise became a reality.