Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins.
REPA'IRED, pp. Restored to a good or sound state; rebuilt; made good.
Deterioration is a fact of natural life. It occurs in every arena of existence on the physical plane. You might say deterioration is what birthed the insurance industry, deterioration and gambling, because when you buy an insurance policy, the insurance company is gambling that they will get more money from you in premiums than they will pay out against the deterioration of your health, home, or finances.
The Law of Deterioration doesn't immediately go away once a Christian gets born again into the body of Christ. For as long as the Christian is at home in the body (the Apostle Paul's poetic way of saying still alive) we are subject to deterioration, both physically as our mortal bodies age, but also spiritually if we do not keep alert. We don't have to deteriorate spiritually, but it is possible to, if we do not watch and pray. Remember that Jesus warned us the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
The key to victorious Christian living is learning early how to repair the altar of the Lord when it begins to crumble in our lives. Unlike in Elijah's day, where apostasy was easily recognised because it was played out in visible idol worship, for the New Testament believer, the battle against spiritual deterioration occurs mainly in the mind.
Romans 12:2 gives us the antidote for spiritual deterioration:
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is --- His good, pleasing and perfect will.
You don't have to deteriorate spiritually even though your body is going downhill with age. You don't have to deteriorate spiritually even though your neighborhood is becoming a slum. You don't have to fall off the narrow path.
To stay on track, however, requires action on your part. You have to be willing to put yourself through periodic self-examination. You have to ask yourself, "Am I conforming myself at any point to the pattern of the world?"
In other words, examine your spiritual "altar." Is it in need of repair?
If deterioration has eroded your pure faith put things right immediately. Small crumbles in the altar lead to bigger stones falling out, and before you know it, you will be traveling headlong into the idolatry of the age, those sins that are peculiar to the times in which you live.
Sin happens so slowly and so gradually, that unless you are setting your mind purposely on things above by reading your Bible, taking time for prayer, aligning yourself with a Christian community (church), then you can get really far down the road toward apostasy without anyone being the wiser.
Don't let that happen. Rebuild the altar at the first sign of decay.
The remedy is Jesus Christ. If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness!
Repairing the altar is the essence of revival, both in Elijah's day and in ours.
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