Do Something

It is essential that each of us prepares himself a peg to hang on because in life it is very dangerous to be found just lazing around. History is replete with a person after another falling victim of such, this after a great season of success.

It happened to David. Remember he was home when his whole army was out winning wars for him (2 Samuel 11). Remember he was just lazing around on the roof of the palace when he saw what he saw, and the rest became history. Remember later after the wars were ended and all his enemies and neighbors submitted that he thought to know how large his army was (2 Samuel 24)!

It happened to Noah after the flood. He thought to kill time by having one and it became many and, well… (Genesis 9: 21) His son Ham also happened to be just passing by when he also ‘saw’, and his son Caanan was cursed (v.25). Remember all the ‘ites’ in Exodus who had to be annihilated? They were the victims.

Remember Elijah the prophet after the greatest revival he had brought to Israel after demonstrating who the God to be worshipped was, killing  850 false prophets and ending a 3 ½ year drought he had proclaimed (1 Kings 18)? He ‘lazed’ around until a daughter of Belial against whom all his revival opposed lifted her head. Then he went down with depression that almost made him suicidal (Ch. 19).

Remember Solomon after completing his most spiritual project sank into a downward spiral of sin and idolatry. Remember him eventually expanding his harem until he had a thousand ‘sex toys’ at his disposal to take care of his great untapped energy. Unfortunately they led him to worship their gods and forget God who had appeared to him, twice.

Remember Uzziah after his great devotion to God that in idling around thought it unimportant to give the Levites unlimited access to the priesthood, especially since he thought he could do the same as the king (2 Chronicles 26).

What is the peg that I need to have around?

Remember Abraham? He always built an altar after any key break in his life. When others would laze, he would be very busy. Why an altar and how does it deal with idling around? First is that an altar is an object of deep devotion and worship. You will build an altar to the divine you are really devoted to. This is because it was hard work. Second is that the responsibility for the building could not be transferred to another. The worshipper is the one who had to build it. You could not even hire someone to do it for you. This would have required the energy that otherwise would have been used to do crazy things to burn that energy. Third, an altar to the God of Abraham required building with uncut and undecorated stones. Simply speaking they were stones the way they were picked. No implement was required at the altar. In fact using a tool on the stones would defile the altar.

Building such an altar would use one’s raw energy and a great part of his creative genius. When I was building, I found the site so rocky that digging a foundation was simply impossible as the rock underneath was impenetrable. What we did was break what we could and arrange the rocks to make level ground to build. And it was no easy task. Imagine building an altar without an iron implement! No wonder Abraham had no scandals!

The same happened with Isaac. Also Jacob after he had an encounter with God.

Developing our worship especially after our triumphs will keep our focus on the right things. It will help us remain submitted to God as we expend our energy on a task requiring our all. Remember David focusing on the temple Solomon would build after his last scandal? It kept him spiritually focused to his death.

How does our worship influence our choices? How does our worship help me use excess energy? What is that worship? What kind of altar do I build in the 21^st century?

An altar is the place I spend the most precious of my time. It is the place I find my greatest joy and fulfillment. It is the place I give my most precious gifts. It is the place I protect with my all, even my life. It is the holiest place within my borders.

Where is your altar? Where do you experience your greatest release? Where do your arguments cease? Where do you experience the greatest security? Where do you find the greatest focus? Where do you spend your most precious resources? Where do you expend your greatest creativity?

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6: 19 – 21)

An altar is the place where you meet God and hear from Him. An altar is the place where you get divine direction. An altar is the place where you disconnect with the clutter of life. An altar is the place you are closest to God.

To many people their TV is their holiest altar. They will almost stop existing if for one reason or the other it is not on. They do not have any conversation in the house when the TV is disseminating whatever information. They almost have stopped communicating because it is their background voice, the source of their topic of discussion. They think along the lines of what is going on in the TV.

But the greatest problem with the TV is that our interaction with it is passive. Our minds and spirits are dormant when we are following it. We are simply soaking what we are being fed with consciously and unconsciously without any protest. We are slowly being introduced to the values that are being disseminated on the tube. We cannot question what it is feeding us with until much later, and that has no guarantee. It would be safe to say that TV is a key plank of the church’s takeover by the world simply due to the fact of that passivity. People spend so much for the best TV and programs. Some buy a TV even before buying a bed or even kitchen utensils. I think it is safe if I said that many people worship TV.

And no wonder godly values are quickly disappearing even from the people of faith. What with all the worldliness we are being fed with by the media, especially TV? No wonder pastors can’t risk preaching against sin and worldliness, because people have been inoculated against the Gospel by the constant barrage from the media.

To many people the TV sits at the most central place in the house, exactly where an altar is supposed to be. That fact alone demonstrates the position it occupies in the value system of the occupants of the house.

A further problem with the TV is that it makes people lazy. You see you can’t do much when you are watching it. This is what brings us to our topic. The remote control has made things even worse. Idleness leaves us with a lot of unutilized energy, energy that must look for an outlet. Calories that much be burnt. And this is why making the TV our altar will lead us to wickedness, and especially sexual immorality. No wonder marriages are struggling!

Another altar I will mention is comfort. We have almost made hard work and struggle appear like a sin. Even many preachers move along that line. Apart from this promoting laziness, it encourages people to take advantage of others in the name of smart working and smart business. It also encourages greed and selfishness and makes us despise even the people we are taking advantage of to make our money.

That will also leave us with a lot of idle energy that must look for an outlet, leading us the way TV does, even amplifying it because it will be what the excess time will be spent on.

I will also mention the internet. This is a growing threat to us but there are others who have been taken captive completely. Its dangers are even worse. It will make you almost stop thinking as you can get any information you need at the click of a button. Then there is the flood of information, information you might not even need. I will not even talk about pornography which jumps on any links worse than a leech. Ready answers make a lazy mind which leads it to have immense unexploited energy which will also look for an outlet. Again wickedness is the result.

What altars are we to build then? I think we need to talk about how we first ought to demolish those we have already established because we cannot have two altars at the same place. That is what we find in the Bible. Think of a way to demolish the altars in your life and family. The ones I have mentioned are not exhaustive. You can have a spouse, children, car, job, cell phone etc taking the place God should be in your priorities.

We demolish them by giving them less priority and even doing away with them if they have become gods. Whatever I feel I can’t do away with is a god that I am worshipping. Anything that controls my life and determines how I live is a god, a god I must destroy to be able to connect with the creator God. Remember we cannot serve God and mammon? And mammon represents not just money but anything that occupies the place of prominence in your life. Mammon is the other god we worship, many times ignorantly.

And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. (Mark 9: 42 – 48)

Try experimenting by taking the TV to the store for one week. How does the family fare? Try ‘forgetting’ your cell phone at home or switch it off for a day or two. How alive do you feel? Does the name you call your spouse or children idolize them? Then change it.

Then start building God’s altar. How? What is it? I think it will consist in establishing disciplines that elevate the place of God in your personal and family life. 

Elevate the place of scripture in your life by giving it your prime time. Read it when you are freshest. Look for an audio version and make it the background ‘noise’ in your living room to see the difference. Set time apart for family devotions. Use the time you wasted on the TV to bond with your family around healthy interaction. Read the Bible together.

That will slowly and surely lift God higher in your family and will make Him active and positively influential in all you do because you are building His altar in your home. Then He will give you direction to positively deal with all your former idols by making them serve you to the glory of God.

Be like Hezekiah who inherited a spiritually backslidden state yet reintroduced God and His worship even beyond his borders, until God lifted him up and fought for him without requiring his active and physical participation (2 Chronicles 29 – 32) That is a good story to study as a family as you think of building that altar in your home.

By the way you can do the same even if you are alone. In fact that is the best place to start as there is nobody to interfere with your determination. It was in the wilderness that king David was prepared to kill Goliath as he was able to establish the place and position of God in his life. You can pray the whole night without disturbing anyone. You can read the Bible at 3 if that is when you are freshest without waking anybody else. You can throw the TV to the dumps without having to have a confrontation with anybody else. In fact the single people should make this their priority so that when they get married they will already have their priorities in order. Then when a spouse and children come they will be introduced to a life that has an altar to God.

After the altar has been raised, it will then be possible to put the other things in their position. Establish a reading culture by looking for healthy books for each member of the family. Reading, unlike TV actively engages the mind and imagination. Look for other positive things to do individually and as a family.

TV can then be reintroduced, but then as a servant to the family. It will not be put on an altar like before. In fact after successfully elevating God’s altar you will find TV becoming so insignificant that you can stay for a week without having switched it on.

The same will happen to all the other idols that were controlling your life once you establish God’s altar in your life.