Leviticus 16:16 In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been. He is to do the same for the tent of meeting, which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness.

I must say that reading Leviticus makes me very grateful I live under the New Covenant! The Letter to the Hebrews makes it clear that Jesus’ sacrifice of Himself fulfilled every righteous commandment of the Law, freeing us from all the rituals prescribed here. The thing is, human sin is a serious issue that must be dealt with, but all the stuff in Leviticus is no more than a stop-gap measure before the ultimate atonement of Jesus’ blood. Everything described here was very solemn and very bloody, and it was prescribed to drive home the seriousness of human sin. Not having the practice of animal sacrifice today, we often tend to take sin lightly, but that’s a terrible mistake. Even in ancient Israel people came to disassociate all the sacrifices from their own sins, which made the sacrifices meaningless, as prophet after prophet warned them. Just as they needed to remember that those animals were being killed because of the people’s sins, we must remember that Jesus died for our sins. Calvary wasn’t just a horrible execution-by-torture in the distant past, it was the direct punishment required by our “uncleanness, rebellion, and sins,” as it says here. We often fail to realize what a wonderful salvation Jesus worked for us on that cross.

Like everyone else, I have tended to overlook and/or excuse my own sins, so it was extremely meaningful when God showed me, just for an instant, the state of my own soul, back in 1972. I realized that, as bad as some of my actions were, the real problem was the attitude that precipitated those actions. I was not holy before my Lord! It was devastating at the time, but I’m still learning to walk in the holiness that God has prepared for me, and for which He is preparing me. All I am that is good is because of the grace of my Lord, and not intrinsic to me. That fact calls out gratitude and the obedience that comes from love, if I will appreciate it fully.

Father, thank You for Your absolutely amazing grace. May it never be a cliché to me, but rather the foundation for every moment of my life, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!