Leviticus 5:5-6 - ‘And it shall be, when he is guilty in any
of these matters, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing;
and he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord for
his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the
goats as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning
his sin.’
God gave Moses instructions for bringing a trespass
offering. It covered the sins of
withholding the knowledge of an oath you heard… swearing or speaking
thoughtlessly… and touching unclean things. A lamb…kid of a goat…tow turtle
doves or two pigeons were brought to the altar… in much the same way as other
sacrifices to atone for these sins.
Meriam Webster defines a trespass as… a violation of moral
or social ethics : an unlawful act committed on the person, property, or rights
of another. This kind of sin doesn’t just affect our heart…but causes worry or
hurt to another. The sin we committed hurts others than just us. Think about
the fact that when others hurt us…our heart is affected from what we perceived as
a sin to us.
As I began to listen to God this morning he brought to my spirit
that phrase from the Lord’s prayer… forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
those that have trespassed against us. In their day…atonement had to be made to
forgive sin…but in our day…Jesus already shed the blood needed for that
atonement. That leaves us with the need to accept that gift of atonement and
forgive others the way God forgave us.
Forgiveness is one of the most powerful tools of restoration
to God and others. It cleanses our soul and heart from the hurt we feel and
allows us to move past the trespass that froze us in hate …bitterness or anger for
so long. The sooner we allow God to heal
those hurts…the quicker he can use us to share the love he has to give to
others around us.
I needed the reminder to search my heart daily for
trespasses that might be hindering my ability to share God’s love with others. Matthew
Henry’s commentary put it this way… “True Christians plead daily for sin and
seek forgiveness through the blood of Christ.”
Father…thank you for the reminder that I need to plead every
day for you to remove all sin that has hidden itself in my heart…making more
room for you to fill it with your love and instructions for sharing it with
others. Forgive me for the times that I
have failed to forgive as you have forgiven me.
Help me to always be willing to forgive others so that hate…or
bitterness…or anger can be quickly purged from my heart. Amen.
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