Laying It All On The Altar

This morning ~ before my feet even hit the floor ~ I found myself at the Altar ~ asking God to take some things that I have been carrying around for a while. I think I even surprised myself just how much I had to hand over. I have known for quite some time that I am not equipped to carry much of anything on my shoulders. Yet it doesn’t seem to stop me from removing them from the Lord’s shoulders and putting those burdens back onto mine. I reckon I get to thinking that maybe, just maybe, I can carry it awhile ~ maybe I can do a decent job in trying to work life’s issues out. I mean ~ how hard could it be?

And that’s just the point. It is very hard ~ extremely difficult ~ downright impossible. When I get myself in this spot I can equate it to jumping into a race car at the Indy 500 ~ taking the driver’s seat ~ and hoping to drive that thing to the finish line. Hard ~ difficult ~ impossible? Indeed.

I’ve been a Christian long enough to know that God has His own way of doing things ~ in His own time ~ and it is imperative that I keep my eyes on Him and off the circumstances of life ~ or I will sink ~ as I often have ~ just like Peter did when he took his eyes off Christ when they were walking on the water.

And so I gave back some things that I had no business having. I can’t drive that race car ~ I must remain in the passenger seat; I can’t climb to the top of that mountain ~ not without the proper climbing gear; I can’t walk that tight rope ~ unless I have the rod to balance me above and the safety net to catch me below. Thankfully, I am hopelessly incapable of running my own life.

This morning through many tears and a broken spirit I laid my "all" on the altar. An old hymn I used to sing in a little country church in southern Kentucky ~ entitled "Is Your All On The Altar" ~ came to my mind ~ and the fit was perfect.

You have longed for sweet peace
And for faith to increase
And have earnestly, fervently prayed;
But you cannot have rest
Or be perfectly blest,
Until all on the altar is laid.

O we never can know
What the Lord will bestow
Of the blessings for which we have prayed
Till our body and soul
He doth fully control,
And our all on the altar is laid.

Who can tell all the love
He will send from above
And how happy our hearts will be made
Of the fellowship sweet
We shall share at his feet
When our all on the altar is laid.

Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?
Your heart does the Spirit control?
You can only be blest,
And have peace and sweet rest,
As you yield Him your body and soul.

In 1900 Elisha Hoffman was inspired by Romans 12:1 to write this song.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.