Genesis 12:8 “Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.”

ALTAR BUILDER

Abram stops his journey long enough to build an altar in order to worship the Lord. The Lord had told him to leave his homeland and go where he told him. Here he is, on his way, but he stops and builds an altar. He builds another one in Genesis 13. Abram was an altar builder. He wanted to hear from God.

What are you “building” in order to hear from God? Are you too busy “doing life” to stop and listen for God’s direction? Have you been too busy throwing stones rather than gathering them to build your own altar of self-sacrifice? I heard Charles Stanley say once, “When people throw stones at you, pick them up and build an altar.” I have never forgotten that. But I still want to throw those stones back. My flesh does not want to crawl on the altar.

TEACHING MOMENT

Our children will learn self-sacrifice one way – by observing us. Yep, sorry! We have to model sacrificial living for them to truly understand it. The day will come when they will face a situation that demands sacrifice. Then they will reflect back on your example. Whether they yield to temptation or to the Lord is their decision. But we must be sure we set the right example.

What can a child sacrifice?   A lot. When their friend wants to cheat off their paper in school, they may have to sacrifice friendship for honesty. It may happen when they are asked to compromise their purity for “love.” Our children today are faced with so many challenges to their faith. We have to be constantly modeling self-sacrifice.

So today, when you are faced with that choice of building an altar and hearing from God or throwing rocks at someone who has challenged your faith, what are you going to do? Lay it down, crawl up on that altar of self-sacrifice and die to self. Only they will you truly live!