First Order of Business: Repair The Altar.
Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which had been taken down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel." With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood."
"Do it again," he said, and they did it again.
"Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it a third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench. I Kings 18:30-35
"Do it again," he said, and they did it again.
"Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it a third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench. I Kings 18:30-35
Elijah was confident that God would answer his prayer and bring down fire from heaven. But he also knew that something spiritually significant had to happen first: The Altar of the LORD had to be repaired. In their apostasy, the king and the people of Israel had left the altar of God unattended to whilst they focused their allegiance on the altar and temples of Baal. The Almighty God who redeemed them out of slavery in Egypt had become unimportant.
But Elijah, the servant of the LORD was about to call down fire from Heaven and establish the supremacy of Yahweh over Baal. The first thing Elijah did was to repair the altar of the LORD which was in ruins and had been taken down.
You see: The altar of God represents the place of worship. The state of the altar is a reflection of the state of one's relationship with God. The Israelites had allowed God's altar to fall into disarray to the point where they had to take it down. Elijah knew that before they could call on God, the altar of God had to be repaired -- that was the first order of business. Their relationship with God had to be repaired and restored.
So, question: What is the state of your personal altar which also signifies the state of your personal relationship with God? Is it in disarray? Does it need to be repaired? If your personal altar needs to be repaired, would you stop every religious activity and take time to repair that altar? Your first order of business is to ensure that your personal relationship with God is strong and unblemished. Repair your altar, if it is in disrepair.
Prayer: Father, I thank you for the reminder that the state of my personal relationship with you does really matter. Please help me to repair everything that is broken in my personal relationship with you. Amen.