If I’m breathing, sooner or later I’ll want to be eating.
It’s the way of the flesh.
We’re organisms and as the ad jingle used to say, “Ya gotta eat.”
It’s not just eating food that we need until we die.
We also need forgiveness.
You see, our appetite is not only for food but also for sin.
Too many times when tempted, we act as if we’ve forgotten where the “No!” word is in our vocabularly.
We’ve told ourselves before that we were NOT going to repeat a particular sin and, for a time, we kept our word.
But that dreaded “Oops!” moment returns when we realize we’ve again dropped our guard and bitten the forbidden fruit of whatever.
Everybody has their stumbling blocks. You have yours and I have mine.
It stinks.
Not just for us but for God, too, who wants better for us.
This is why it’s vital that we keep a well-worn path to the throne of God, not just for worship but also to plea for forgiveness.
We all sin. We all need grace. And we all will until we die.
That means the spiritual discipline of repentance and rededication is to be a daily pattern for living rather than a random choice when we determine if we’ve messed up enough to feel unworthy.
Let’s follow the principle taught in Leviticus 6:13 where the Israelite priests were told by God to NEVER let the fire go out on the bronze altar of sacrifice. You see, God told the priests that guilt offerings are to be placed on that fire. And since with millions of Israelities being present, there was always guilt in the camp that needed forgiveness.
Because God’s desire is for restoration of the soul, the fire had to keep burning in order to complete the guilt offering sacrifices ordained by God.
If the priests chose to let the fire die, it would be because they stopped believing that sins were occurring or they stopped believing that sins needed forgiveness.
The day eventually came when priests did neglect the altar fire and Israel suffered terribly.
We don’t have bronze altars at churches now, but our need for forgiveness is just as real today.
Let’s remember that our going to God to gain forgiveness for our sins should be even more important to us than is going to the fridge to gain food for our stomachs.
Let’s never let the hunger for forgiveness fade.
For unlike food that can sustain us until we die, forgiveness can carry us through this life into the next.
As always, I love you
Martin
