The Altar and the Consuming Fire

🔥 There was a time when the altar was not treated casually. It was not a decoration in a sanctuary. It was a place where something died. In the days of old, the fire on the altar never went out because God Himself had lit it. Priests did not bring strange fire. Worshippers did not come casually. They came with sacrifice. They came with reverence. They came to meet with the Holy One of Israel. The altar was not designed for comfort. It was a place where flesh was consumed and fire fell. When Elijah rebuilt the altar on Mount Carmel, he was not looking for approval from men. He was calling down the fire of God in a generation that had forgotten who He was. And the fire did not fall on words. It fell on sacrifice. It consumed the offering and the stones and the dust and the water. Everything was swallowed in flame. God has not changed. He is still a consuming fire. He does not come to entertain. He comes to refine. He comes to purify. He comes to claim what is fully surrendered. The altar of the New Covenant is the heart of the believer, and it is not a place for half-measures. It is all or nothing. Burn or back away. God will not share the altar with idols. He will not visit where there is no sacrifice. If there is no fire in your life, there is likely no altar that has been rebuilt. The fire only falls where something is willing to die. Do not approach God looking for comfort if you have not laid anything down. He is not looking for admiration. He is looking for surrender. The altar is not a stage. It is not a place for performance. It is a place for combustion. Either your flesh burns or your fire dies. You do not tame a consuming fire. You yield to it.