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By Mike Caton

Exodus 37:25-29, “They made the altar of incense out of acacia wood. It was square, a cubit long and a cubit wide and two cubits high—its horns of one piece with it. They overlaid the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and made a gold molding around it. They made two gold rings below the molding—two on each of the opposite sides—to hold the poles used to carry it. They made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. They also made the sacred anointing oil and the pure, fragrant incense—the work of a perfumer.”

The altar of incense was also in the holy place in the tabernacle. It was about a foot and a half long and wide and three feet tall. It was also made of the same acacia wood and then overlaid with pure gold. Like the other altar, horns were made on each corner, rings were made for the corners, and like other things in the tabernacle, poles were made to carry the altar when the people moved. And again, everything was covered with pure gold. The fire was placed on top of the altar and the incense placed on it to burn. They also made the anointing oil and the incense, as God had instructed them earlier.

The sweet smelling incense would give off smoke, and that represented the prayers of the people ascending to God. Do we think of our prayers as a sweet aroma to the Lord? Incense was something that was seen as a pleasure in those days, it was used to help set the mood, to relax, to clear up the bad odors that were around. Remember, their hygiene practices were not like ours, and they spent much time with stinky animals. So it would be nice to have something pleasant to smell. The picture is of God looking at our prayers the same way, he loves hearing from us. It is a pleasure to him for us to reach out to him, even though he has already reached out to us. Our prayers put a smile on God’s face.

And with that thought, how often, how sincerely, how regularly, how earnestly do we pray to the Lord? God is just waiting for us to call out. He wants to hear from you, yes you personally.

Father, thank you for hearing my prayer. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Mike Caton is the preacher at Mount Olive Church of Christ in Belhaven. He volunteers at the Ponzer Fire Department and works as a full time AEMT with Hyde County EMS. Follow Mount Olive Church of Christ on Facebook for daily devotions.

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