Building Altars!

I wonder what Abraham was doing that day when the Lord spoke to him and said -- "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee..."  Abraham was 75 years old at this time, but he doesn't seem to hesitate, and we read in the 11th chapter of Hebrews:

     "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.  By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise."

The one thing that stands out to me and speaks to my heart is that Abraham doesn't go far on his journey without "building an altar unto the Lord."  As Abraham journeys, we find at least six times where he stops and builds an altar to the Lord!  Then, after the death of Abraham, we find the Lord speaking to Isaac in Genesis 26:24-25.  "And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear  not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee . . . And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord."

Then, in chapter 33, we find Jacob erecting an altar.  Again, in chapter 35, we hear Jacob say in verse 3:  "Let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God."  And again, in verse 7, we see: "And he built there an altar..."  Abraham; his son, Isaac, and his grandson, Jacob, all built altars as they journeyed!  Praise the Lord!

In these beginning days of 2019, the unknown tomorrows lie before us!  I don't want to journey very far without building an altar -- calling on God for wisdom and guidance as we walk this road of life that leads to eternity!  And---as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob passed down the Building of Altars from generation to generation, may it be our earnest prayer as parents, grandparents, and great grandparents that God, in His infinite wisdom and mercy, will help us to keep building altars on the sure foundation of His Holy Word so that our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will be altar builders also!

     "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!"