Live as He Lived

I am trying to read through a chronological Bible reading plan and I’ve been reading in Leviticus for a few weeks. I will admit to having a hard time reading in the Old Testament, and I have tried to read intentionally to find something in Leviticus that God is speaking to me.

What I have read so far has been rule after rule after rule concerning procedures to follow during sacrifices/offerings. My first instinct while reading is okay, let’s move on, we don’t have to make sacrifices like this anymore. Then I began focusing on why we do not have to make the types of sacrifices I was reading about.

While going through Leviticus, I have read this statement repeatedly:

“In this way the priest will make atonement for these sins, and he will be forgiven.”

The priest had massive responsibility to take care of reconciling God and His people. We do not have to go through a priest here on earth anymore. For Christians, our High Priest is Jesus Christ. We have direct access to God through Him and can pray at anytime, anywhere. God provided the ultimate sacrifice. It was messy and brutal just as the animal sin offerings you read about in Leviticus. The death of Jesus was necessary.

Nothing is required of us besides believing and accepting that Jesus died for our sins. We could stop there. Believe and be saved and communicate through Jesus to God Himself. What about becoming more like Christ? That’s the part the takes some sacrificing on our part.

I will leave you with this verse.

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” –Philippians 2:5

The footnote in my Life Application Study Bible states this:“As believers we should have a different attitude, one that enables us to lay aside our rights in order to serve others. If we say we follow Christ, we must also say we want to live as He lived. We should develop His attitude of humility as we serve, even when we are not likely to get recognition for our efforts. Are you selfishly clinging to your rights, or are you willing to serve?”

Kristen

Teen Leader