Day 46
And the
priest and the Levites purified themselves, and the purified the people and the
gates and the wall.
Nehemiah
12:30
From
time to time, we come to the point in our lives where we just feel that we have
not been walking as closely to God as we should. Maybe we have been a little slack
and have allowed sin into our lives. Or, maybe we have just not been spending
time with the Lord and therefore we feel far from Him. During these times it is
important for us to be honest and return to Him.
The
Old Testament lays out a number of rituals that the people were to perform in
order to be purified and thus, considered ceremonially clean. These were
physical acts that were to reflect a spiritual reality. This is what we see in
Nehemiah, the priest and the people purifying themselves for the service of
God. We also see them purify the gates and wall as if to say, “these things represent
the security and provision of our God.”
For
us, on the opposite side of the cross than the people of Nehemiah’s time, our
purification has been provided for. Jesus Christ went to the cross to provide
forgiveness once and for all, for all people. Any sin that we have committed,
or could commit, has been taken care of. On the cross, Jesus took all the sins
of the world, that had been committed or would be committed, and paid the price
for them.
Today,
if you do not know the freedom, purity, and renewal, that Christ offers to us,
then take time to seek Him. Jesus desires to remove your sin. He desires to
take what is old, damaged, and scarred, and make it new. Just as the people of
Nehemiah were able to come before God and be purified, we can know the purity available
in Christ. The beauty of the purity that we can know is this; it is far more
reaching, far more effective, and far more of a spiritual reality than the
people of Nehemiah’s time could have known. Experience it today. Take time to
seek God’s face and experience Him anew.
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