Altars and false gods

"Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone” (Genesis35:3 NIV).

What golden altar do you kneel before?
What perfect offering do you lay at the feet of the King?

What false idols have you cast off in shame?
What sins, unconfessed, have been laid bare?

What broken roads have led you here?
What sacred promises do you cling to still?

What penance do you commit to pay?
What resting place will you call home?

"Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold. “‘Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you" (Exodus 20:23-25 NIV).

“I will hide my face from them,” he said, “and see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful. They made me jealous by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols. I will make them envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding" (Deuteronomy 32:20-21 NIV).

"This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the LORD. “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word" (Isaiah 66:1-2 NIV).

My prayer today is that you and I choose wisely which altar we approach and to whom we give priase.

Blessings on your journey,

Mary