The word altar usually evokes a lot of emotions and memories. As a believer that word symbolizes sacrificing something for the greater good. The greatest sacrifice was that of Jesus. He left His home Heaven to come and die a cruel death on the cross for us. Before the gruesome death on the cross, there was a death that happened in the garden of Gethsemane. This is the death that is required of us from God. That is the altar we must stay on.

            In that garden, Jesus was having an internal power struggle. His flesh didn’t want Him to die on that cross, but His spirit wanted Him to. His spirit wanted Him to die on that cross because God wanted Him to die on that cross. Our spirit will always comply with what God wants from us. Our flesh on the other hand, will always oppose anything suggested by our spirit. This is the struggle that Paul outlines in Romans 7. In the book of Galatians, Paul tells us to walk in the spirit and not in the flesh. The question is how do I walk in the spirit and not the flesh?

            The answer is found in the Garden of Gethsemane. The battle that Jesus had is the battle we all have, but the way He won is how we must win. He declared, “…. not my will, but your will be done…” that is what we must say and do. We can only do this by staying on the altar. We put our flesh on the altar of sacrifice. The altar is a place of death. Its not a pretty sight. There is blood all over the place. That is what we must do to the flesh. We must put it on the altar and let it die. This is a daily thing. There are times the flesh will get the best of us, and there are other times we will successfully put it on the altar. The goal is to never give up.

Proverbs 24:16, “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again…”