Forgiven and Cleansed     

Exodus 30.17-21

               The priests were to take their responsibilities seriously in offering sacrifices, in representing the people, and in coming into the Lord’s presence. To emphasize the importance of holiness, of being clean of all sin, the Lord established a visual reminder for the people – a bronze basin. From this basin the priests were to wash themselves before they served. The LORD said to Moses, “You shall also make a basin of bronze… bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it, with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet. When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister… they shall wash with water, so that they may not die (Exodus 30.17-20). Coming before the Holy God, there was to be absolutely no dirt on them; there was to be no sin evident in their lives. The Lord emphasized to them the importance of purity, of integrity, of holiness.

               As believers in Jesus Christ who have been cleansed by His blood shed on the Cross of Calvary, we have been called priests before the Lord (1 Peter 2.8-9). When we come before the Lord in prayer, when we come to serve Him, when we come to participate in communion, when we live through each day in all we do, we need to be clean. This is not redemption cleansing, the cleansing of sin which brings us into the family of God. Rather, this is cleansing of daily sin, of recognizing our own imperfections and proneness to sin. Whether this is the sin of thoughts, words, desires, actions, or intentions, apart from forgiveness we will be hindered in our relationship with the Lord, in our service to the Lord, and in our relationships with others. Coming before the Lord for forgiveness is humbling, for in this we must admit we are sinful, recognizing our imperfections, our fallibility, and our need to be clean; coming before the Lord is freeing, as He forgives us of sin and restores us to relationship with Himself.

Forgiven and restored – we have much to be thankful for –
Terry