We’re going to sing a relatively new song this Sunday called “Take My Heart with Altar Fire.” It’s a fantastic song, and a perfect one to sing on Pentecost! Here’s why:
The imagery in the title points us to Paul’s words in Romans 12:1—“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” This song is a prayer for God to transform our lives into lives of worship!
The first two verses of this song start with visible actions and audible speech. They shift into the secret actions and thoughts of the heart that only God sees. They end with pleas for God to transform those deeds and words so that they are holy and true. The last verse gets to the core of the problem. Our yearnings, motivations, and delights are broken. We can filter the words and actions that people see so we look godly and righteous, but what about our hearts? The heart is the source of the bad things we do and say, and even if we manage to filter those out we’re still left with the corrupt hearts that produced them.
The truth is that we can’t really change our hearts. We can’t, in our own power, make our hearts hate sin, straighten our “bent desires,” or unwaveringly believe God’s promises. We need God to work in us, and that is exactly what the Spirit does! The same Spirit that fills us and joins us to Christ also makes us like him. We call this sanctification. He is working in us like a refining fire to burn out the corruption and to clean out our hearts to make room for the presence of God in us. Sometimes the process is painful—after all, fire hurts! But this fire also brings healing and peace. Don’t fear it, and don’t run from it. Pray instead for the Spirit to purge your heart so that it longs, above all else, to be in God’s presence and to see him glorified.
“Fire of God consume my heart, burn it down to only faith
Til all that’s left of me is only you, Christ my glory, Christ my praise.”
Justin