Main news for 17 October 2007

Why must the fire on the altar burn continually? It is such a bother: wood is used up, a rotating staff is needed to maintain the fire, then there is cleaning away soot and the like. It would be much more economical to set certain "office hours" when the altar is available for sacrifices.

Perhaps similar considerations lead to what we so often see: locked church doors with signs attached to them showing service times. I am not condemning; I am grieving.

What did this constant burning of the fire on the altar mean? Perhaps one very important thought: God is always ready to receive us, He is open to communion with us; therefore service to Him cannot and has no right to be limited only to certain special hours or days. Continuing this thought in New Testament times, the apostle Paul will say: "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17).