The Jewish Fall Feasts were celebrated a month ago. I’m growing in appreciation for these wonderful celebrations. There is such a rich revelation of Jesus to be found within these feasts, and I believe the Body of Christ needs to give more attention to them. But what does that have to do with His faithfulness to my heart (or yours for that matter)? Well, within the line up of the Fall Feasts is Yom Kippur, which is the Day of Atonement. According to the Old Testament law, once a year, the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the whole nation of Israel. While we know that Jesus is our atonement for eternity, there is a hidden gem in the way Jews prepare for this wonderful day. From Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) until the end of Yom Kippur are the ten Days of Awe (or the High Holy Days). During this period, observing Jews examine themselves and take the time to repent to God and repent to one another to ensure that their names are written in the Book of Life. As believers in Jesus Christ, we have an assurance of our eternal salvation and can view Yom Kippur as a time to express our gratitude to God for the blood of Christ that has redeemed us. While I think it is fairly common for us to confess our sins and repent to God, I don’t think we repent to each other enough for the hurts and offenses we’ve caused.
It is so important for us to remember the atoning sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross. Without His sacrifice, we would not be able to commune with God. When we ask forgiveness of God, we know He gives it to us because Jesus died for our sins. However, after reciting the model prayer, Jesus offers a nugget of truth found within the prayer, saying: “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15 NKJV). God extends so much grace to us with the desire of drawing us into relationship with Him and others through repentance and love. Offense is a deadly poison that kills the body as well as the soul. Offense has been the reason for the collapse of many great ministries and the fall of many great men. The bible warns against allowing offense and bitterness to grow time and time again. It is so important that we draw to Him and one another in love, suffering the heartache that comes with relationships and forgiving when necessary. We need not only be willing to forgive, but our willingness must translate into action whether the other person is ready to hear and receive our pardon or not. The same goes for repentance. We need to have a repentant heart towards the LORD and each other when we sin. I also believe, at times, the offended needs to repent to the offender and God for allowing hurt to grow into bitterness and hate. Too often, we can only see the hurt inflicted on us and we blind ourselves to the hurt we inflict on others when operating with a bitter heart. But praise God! He is faithful to instruct us in the art of repenting and forgiving. He is faithful in highlighting the offenses within our hearts and drawing them out through forgiveness. He is faithful to shine His light of love upon our hearts, uprooting the darkness of offense and making us more like Him through humility in the process. When the offenses are highlighted and He prompts us to repent and forgive, we must act according to His direction. It will always be humbling, but it is very necessary. When we confess our sins to one another, our hearts are exposed, but it’s important that we do not allow offense to dwell within us. He is faithful to reveal it, and we must be faithful to act on this revelation. If we fail in the moment of prompting, there is an appointed time once a year for us to clean our hearts. Then we are able to enter into a new year free of the weight of offense and covered by the atoning blood of the Lamb.
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