Day 38, or February the 7th. When a whole nation
repents. Our thoughts today are rooted in Leviticus
chapter 16, verse 30. On this day, atonement
will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then before
the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins.
First, the big picture surrounding this verse.
The very special festival called the Day of Atonement,
or Yom Kippur, dominates these two chapters.
According to the website of the Israel Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, it is the day of divine judgment
and of affliction of souls, a day when the individual
may be cleansed of sins and the only fast day
decreed in the Bible. It is a time to enumerate
one's misdeeds and contemplate one's faults.
A Jew is expected on this day to pray for forgiveness
for sins between man and God, and correct his
wrongful actions against his fellow man. Leviticus
reminds us that it was the day when Aaron would
enter the Holy of Holies to seek forgiveness
for the whole nation. This is also the place
where we hear about the scapegoat, which took
the sins of the people away, exactly as Jesus
Christ did many years later. And now our action
step for today. First the priest is prepared,
and then he is able to serve the people by releasing
the scapegoat bearing their sins. There are many
today who want God to use them. but never take
the first essential step of getting prepared
for service. This doesn't mean we have to be
perfect or know everything before God can use
us. Far from it. If this were the case, then
none of us would ever make it. A friend, new
to Christ, wanted to preach and teach, even though
he knew very little. He soon ran dry and became
disillusioned. He refused to submit to a learning
process so he could be used as a teacher, and
sadly, eventually slipped away. John chapter
14 verse 26 tells us, When the Father sends the
Holy Spirit, He will teach you everything and
will remind you of everything I have told you.
If you are running dry, it may be that you need
more preparation. Are you prepared? to be prepared.