"Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose."

Genesis 8:20

For the first time in the Bible, a person builds an altar and offers sacrifices to God. This practice was common in the Ancient Near East, where the altar was often envisioned as a table for the gods. Genesis does not employ this imagery, nor does it tell us exactly why Noah offered sacrifices, though it does mention God's pleasure in them (v. 21).

Noah exemplifies the righteous urge to worship God and acknowledge his goodness to us. The New Testament reveals that we have been saved by God's grace so that we might live for the praise of his glory (Eph 1:12). Worship is our privilege, our responsibility, and our purpose. Like Noah, we can worship right where we are, not by building literal altars, but by offering our thanks to God and living each day in service to him.

How can you build an "altar" to the Lord today? What might you do in your workplace to remember God today?

PRAYER:

Teach me to love thee as thine angels love,
One holy passion filling all my frame;
The kindling of the heaven descended Dove,
My heart an altar, and thy love the flame.
Amen.

From "Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart" by George Croly (1854)