Life Unedited

“‘And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it. Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.’”
— Exodus 20:25-26

When I published my first book, my father took a copy to my high school English teacher. She looked at it, chuckled and said, “Imagine that! Warren making a living doing the one thing for which he has absolutely no talent.” And she was right! I’m not a writer. I recently had an article edited for a national magazine and there was not a single line in the text without a correction. If you haven’t seen typos, grammatical errors, syntax errors and more in these devotions… then you are just as bad at English as me. The vast majority of my writings (and speeches) these days are unedited on purpose. I tend to live life unedited.

I spent years trying to find publishers, editors and others to clean up my work and make me look smart. What I tended to get back was even more bland and lifeless than when I began. I finally realized I’m a storyteller. I communicate ideas. What people remember is the story or the idea. So, I focused not on writing a piece that was perfect, but sharing as many ideas as possible. As long as you can understand what I’m saying, I’m satisfied.

The approach is very counterintuitive in our culture where social media trolls will hammer you for using the wrong to, too or two. It’s all a number 2 to me. The only thing I care about is whether or not you get the main idea, story or thought. Writing is a major way God works in my life. It is how I grow as a person. For me, living unedited is vital to my growth. I don’t think I’m alone. God has shown me no matter how much we try to edit our lives, we will all face Him unedited.

In Exodus, God instructed the Israelites in how to set up an alter to Him. He tells them in Exodus 20:25-26, “‘And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it. Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.’”

He commanded them not to use tools. To do so would profane the alter. In other words, to edit the structure would be to ruin its purpose. It was to be built in worship to the Lord. God knew that anything man did to “improve” the altar would take away from its purpose by placing importance on man’s work. He was emphasizing the fact that there is nothing we can add to His finished work to improve it.

Throughout the Bible you see how God sees our lives unedited. Bathsheba is continuously referred to as the wife of Uriah the Hittite whom David murdered. Paul repeatedly reminds us that he was the enemy of Christ and complicit in the death of Stephen. Moses is prevented from entering the Promised Land because of his disobedience. On the other side, Ruth is regularly listed as the wife of Boaz in the genealogy of Christ (when wives are not listed) because of her faithfulness. Right or wrong, God loved them ALL. They were “a man after His own heart”, His faithful servants, His apostle and all were His children. Yet, they didn’t get to edit their life. Their story was part of His story and all the parts were important.

We don’t get to edit our story either. We are what we are. We have done what we have done. All we can do today is what Paul advised in Philippians 3:13-14, “…but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

I don’t discount editing in the work we do. It can be very beneficial. Maybe one day I’ll try it. Some of you might appreciate it if I did. But I’m painfully aware that life is unedited. Sure, we can make ourselves look great on social media, or to a small group of people for a short time. In the end, the person in the mirror and our Lord above knows the truth. Both see beyond the edits. Both know the full account.

However, unlike the person in the mirror, the Lord has tremendous love for you. He desires nothing but the best for you. He longs to work in and through your messy life to do something extraordinary; show you who He created you to be. No matter what we have done, His goal and purpose hasn’t changed. He created you to be His chosen, holy, royal priest and His special person. (1 Peter 2:9)

The second part of our verse today is that there were to be no steps up to the altar that might expose our nakedness. In other words, God’s altar is to be right down here in the muck of life. It is not something you climb towards; the climb would only expose our faults. He came to us. He meets us where we are (just as He did David, Moses, Paul, Stephen and Ruth). We might be tempted to take credit for a climb, but rather all the credit is due to Him who came down to us.

Jesus meets us where we are at the altar in our hearts. No tool can edit it. He takes us as we are and gives us all He is in return. His altar is not meant to expose our nakedness; our shame. It is not about humiliation. It is about honesty. We give Him our life unedited, and He gives us His life unblemished. He establishes us by His finished work. All we have to do is lay it all down on His altar holding nothing back. He certainly held nothing back from us!

Will you join me this week and put your unedited life into the hands of the Author and Finisher of our faith? He can turn our typos, bad grammar and syntax errors in life into beautiful stories of redemption and hope.

© 2025 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.