Friday, August 7, 2009
Leviticus 16:24 And he [Aaron] shall wash his body with water in a holy place, put on his garments, come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people.
THINGS YOU MIGHT SAY WHEN YOU GO CAMPING:
"WASH BEFORE YOU EAT!"
When you camp you can't be too squeamish about a little dirt. If you're germophobic, camping is probably not for you. Nevertheless, the rules about washing before you eat apply in the woods just like they do at home. When the family goes camping, Mom is especially careful to say: WASH BEFORE YOU EAT!
The book of Leviticus tells how the LORD established a system of worship for His people camping in the wilderness. This system gave them two very pointed reminders: 1) Mankind is dirty, stained, and smelly with sin. 2) Only through bloody sacrifice can they be washed clean.
For us New Testament believers the message is the same. We need to be clean in order to draw near to God and be ready for heaven. Only Jesus' sacrifice, the spilling of His blood, can cleanse us of sin. Praise God that is exactly what it has done. 1 John 1:7: ". . . the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."
In our day there is a definite lack of sin-consciousness. The idea that sin is deserving of God's everlasting punishment in hell is almost completely foreign to modern thought. Even today's Christians are not always so sensitive to the spiritual pollution in their lives. But sin is still sin, and God is still repulsed by it.
God help us to see our sin for what it is. God lead us to turn to Jesus' shed blood everyday for the washing we need. Thank you, Lord for sending your Son to wash away the sin of the world, including my sin, too! I know that in Jesus I'm clean!
