Don’t you love how Scripture just comes alive sometimes? Here’s my newest “find.” I was reading in Deuteronomy about the fact that a sacrifice had to be without defect. While I’ve long understood Christ as that perfect sacrifice, that unblemished lamb, I never thought about the inverse of that. To offer myself would have been an unacceptable sacrifice due to my defect of sin.
Fast forward that day to the book of Romans. Romans 12:1, to be exact. We are told “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” Because of Christ’s blood, His perfect sacrifice to cover my sin, suddenly I am a holy and acceptable sacrifice. And just as God told the Israelites to present those kinds of sacrifices to Him on a daily basis, so I should do, as my service of worship. But I don’t bring an unblemished animal. I bring myself, clothed in Jesus’s perfect righteousness. And because of that, my offering is wholly acceptable to God.
Isn’t that cool?
It’s so hard to believe though. I constantly feel as though I should do more, give more, be more because I’m not good enough. As though I could somehow become unblemished and therefore worthy. Thank you for reminding me that He loves me as is. He’s got my whole heart . . . and that’s enough for Him. 🙂
It’s always helped me to remember that my righteousness is Him, not me, because I’ll never get it all right! He covers my blemishes with His perfection. But I always need reminding again, too.