By Shepard Victor
When God appeared to Abraham and initiated a covenant, it was not at Abraham’s prompting; it was God’s sovereign decision. The prerogative to establish a covenant relationship rests solely with God. As we see in Genesis 12:1–3, God calls, commands, and promises on His own terms. You cannot bully, manipulate, or compel Him into a covenant. He is God, supreme, unquestionable, and self-sufficient.
However, while the establishment of a covenant is God’s responsibility, the building and maintenance of altars is man’s. Altars are man’s response to divine covenant. They serve as spiritual structures for aligning with and accessing the benefits of what God has established. Altars perpetuate covenant. They are platforms through which man communes with the divine and draws down the blessings inherent in the covenant.
Without an altar, a person may remain unaware or disconnected from covenant realities, even if those covenants are meant to benefit them. This is why the altars of old mattered so much. They weren’t mere stones or physical constructions but spiritual portals and points of remembrance, sacrifice, and communion.
Think of altars as the conductors that “earth” the covenant. They serve as a connection point where the spiritual touches the physical, allowing the promises of God to become experiential realities. You may not have had a direct encounter with God as Abraham did, but through the altar of faith, you can still access the blessings of that same covenant. That’s why Scripture declares that “Abraham’s blessings are ours” through faith (Galatians 3:14).
Consider the weight of that truth: long after Abraham had passed, men like Isaac, Jacob, and Elijah still raised altars, invoking the covenant God made with him. They understood that without a point of alignment, without an altar, they could not fully participate in what God had already made available.
Many today suffer lack in the midst of abundance, not because God has not made provision, but because they lack understanding of altars. The principles that govern the covenant still require our alignment. Jesus, by His blood, has ushered us into a new covenant, one that speaks better things than the old. His stripes heal us, His poverty enriches us, His chastisement brings us peace. These are covenant realities. But to walk in their fullness, we must maintain the altar; our place of faith, surrender, and daily devotion.
If you’ve been careless with your altar, now is the time to rebuild it. If you’ve been living disconnected from the covenant, now is the time to align. Let your life reflect that commitment.
More Blessings!