ignorance ain't bliss and grace ain't cheap...

so, last night at church, the speaker was laying groundwork for the easter story.

he was talking about what the cross meant to the Jews. among other things, it meant freedom from temple sacrifice. to us, this doesn't mean a whole lot...but to them...

imagine...every time they sinned or messed up, it was like "dang it, gotta go get another animal, drag it to the temple and make a sacrifice." chances are, you'd probably sin again before you even got home! so back you went to stand in line, once again...get another animal...

over and over and over for thousands of years, this is how they atoned for all of their sins...ALL the rules they had to abide by (i.e. Leviticus), ALL the times they fell short of God's holy standard...

and then, the day comes when ONE man makes ONE sacrifice that means you NEVER have to make a temple sacrifice EVER again.

what would you be feeling? how much joy? how much relief? how much gratitude? just because of that ONE simple aspect?

we live under the new covenant...always have...we have NO idea what this was like...and for that and many other reasons, we fall so short in gratitude and understanding EVERYthing we've been saved from.

do we even understand the concept of sacrifice? whether it was Jesus' sacrifice or sacrifice He asks of us? do we?

do we understand grace? atonement?

i think this easter, it would be pretty darn cool to try to experience easter through the eyes of the ancient Jews.

how would it change our lives?

i think it would be appropriate to end with these words of Paul...a man who understood exactly what all of this meant...

"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you:
Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping,
eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life -
and place it before God as an offering. Embracing
what God does for you is the best thing you can do
for Him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your
culture that you fit into it without even thinking.
Instead, fix your attention on God. you'll be
changed from the inside out. Readily recognize
what he wants from you, and quickly resond to it.
Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you
down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best
out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."

Romans 12:1-2 (MSG)


i wish i never took grace for granted. i do. but i wish i didn't.