Day 52/365- Leviticus 16:10

"Gone Baby Gone"

The other goat, the scapegoat chosen by lot to be sent away, will be kept alive, standing before the Lord . When it is sent away to Azazel in the wilderness, the people will be purified and made right with the Lord . (Leviticus 16:10 NLT)

The day of atonement is the one day a year that the high priest has access to the presence of God in the holy of holies. Two goats are presented. One is sacrificed & one is set free. The one that is set free is called the scapegoat. The priest will lay his hands on the goat & transfer the sins of the people to it. It takes their sin in their place. The sin they should have been punished for is now on him. The sin that should have made them outcasts makes him an outcast. The sin that should have isolated & exiled them from God & one another is placed on him. He is sent away, never to return.

In the same way, Christ has taken our sin so that we don't have to bear it. All our rebellion has been laid on him. It has gone with him to the cross & been crucified there, never to return.

I love this picture of the scapegoat because of the sins of the people going away never to return. I don't know about you but this is a hard one for me. I accept the fact that Jesus died for me. I accept the fact that his blood covers my sin. I love the fact that he has carried my shame for me. I am so humbled & grateful for all of these things.

But in my own life, my goat sometimes seems to want to come back if you will. The sin that has been confessed, dealt with, cleansed & forgiven, & crucified with Jesus sometimes wants to come back. Not the actual committing of the sin in this case but a reminder of who I was & what I used to do.

See, I've done all of my sinning as a Christian. I've been in church since I was zero years old. I was raised in a godly family with great parents who shared the gospel with me & discipled me in my faith. And yet, I still made mistakes. I chose to live in some ungodly patterns while trying to maintain a godly appearance. I had the best of intentions but let some sins take root in my life.

I wouldn't think these sins would haunt me as much if I had done them in my lost past but I was living in sin as a believer. This is the hardest part to live with at times. My goat keeps coming back.

But this is not what happens here in Leviticus. There is a guy in charge of driving that goat so far out that he never comes back. That sin was forgiven, atoned for, never to be held against them again. God had put those sins to rest, never to bring them up again.

In the same way, & how much more for those of us who are in Christ, have we been forgiven & our sins nailed to the cross never to be held against us again? Romans 8:1 says of those in Christ, "There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." We don't have to be condemned anymore. To do so would be going after that goat or even more, making in our pet. That stuff is gone. Let it go! Give it to God! Take it to the cross & leave it there. God doesn't hold that against us anymore. We are forgiven & set free.

Let's walk in this freedom & reality that we have in Jesus. That sin is gone baby gone! Help us Lord with this! Not just to know it with our minds, but experience it in our hearts!