Altars aren't used much anymore. When I was growing up we had what Mom called, Family Altar. By that she meant we all gathered in our living room for a sacred time of reading Scripture and prayer every day.
In the church where I was raised the altar was often used at the end of the service as a place of surrender, whether to get saved, or to get right with God, or surrender totally to the Lord.
Literally, the altar in both Old and New Testaments meant a place of cleansing. Remember Isaiah, in Isaiah 6, said that when he saw the Lord high and lifted up and his train filling the temple. Feeling his sinful unworthiness before God, an angel took a coal from off the altar in heaven, and placed it on his tongue and declared him clean. The altar is where we go to get purified, cleansed, and forgiven. Jesus is our altar.
I John 1:9-10
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. He is the one to whom we go to find cleansing.
Ray Boltz has a wonderful song about the Altar. Read it, better yet, listen to it being sung and bring your burden to the Lord.
THE ALTAR
song by Ray Boltz called
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The service is nearing an end, the choir is singing "Just As I Am".
And now as the old song is played,
people at the altar are kneeling down to pray ----.
Some are finding mercy, forgiveness of their sins.
Some are fighting battles and struggling to the end----
The time has come to give them to the Lord
That's what this altar is for.
A father is praying with his son,
a mother kneels beside them thanking God they've come.
An old man is standing there in tears,
giving up a part of him that he's held back for years ----.
Hearts are being broken, lives are being changed,
Those who call upon Him will never be the same---.
The time has come to give in to the Lord,
That's what this altar is for.
CHORUS:
That's what this altar is for,
you don't have to carry those burdens anymore.
There's a light in the darkness, there's a love --- that's true.
Jesus is waiting, He's waiting here for you ----.
Go quickly now before they close the door,
That's what this altar is for.
FINAL CHORUS
That's what this altar is for,
you don't have to carry those burdens anymore.
There's a light in the darkness, there's a love --- that's true.
Jesus is waiting, He's waiting here for you ----.
Go quickly now before they close the door,
You can give your burdens to the Lord,
That's what this altar is for.