Leviticus - a Humbling Experience

My friends and I are reading the Bible in 90 Days.  Our 90^th day will land on the day before Christmas Eve.  We thought this was a great way to keep Christ in the season. 

I’ve never read the Bible cover to cover.  I think I’ve read all of it, but never in a purposeful order.  At this point, we’re on Day 10 and in Leviticus.  If you aren’t familiar (I wasn’t fully) with Leviticus, the book deals primarily with the laws for sacrifice offering for sin, fellowship, etc. along with what is clean or unclean.  Wow – it’s quite a book.

The first impression I had was that I’d have to have a whole barnyard full of animals just for sacrifice.  I’d be at the Tent of Meeting daily offering my sacrifices to the Lord to cover my sins unintentional or otherwise.  Poor animals.  They’d all hide when they saw me coming.

How blessed are we that Christ sacrificed himself for us on the cross to cover that sin so that we no longer have to offer sacrifices to the Lord? 

I wonder, though, if we grow complacent when we don’t have our sin in the forefront each day.  We sin, we know it’s covered, we say a quick prayer and move on.  What if we still had to atone for our sins?  Having a constant reminder that we are being held accountable by the Lord would certainly change our actions. Or, would it?  It didn’t seem to in Biblical times. 

What I honor about the Bible is its truths.  Nothing is candy coated.  Human frailty is on display in all its grotesque forms.  Jews, Christians weren’t perfect then just like they aren’t perfect now.  Being a Christian doesn't mean you’re transformed into moral perfection, it just means that you honor Christ by striving for it.  We fail, we pray, we pick ourselves back up and start another day.

Eighty more days of reading the Bible – I’m humbled already.