{"id":7172,"date":"2022-11-30T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T16:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onehopecanada.ca\/?p=7172"},"modified":"2022-12-28T09:55:24","modified_gmt":"2022-12-28T15:55:24","slug":"jesus-is-enough-learning-from-leviticus-at-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onehopecanada.ca\/fr\/jesus-is-enough-learning-from-leviticus-at-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesus is Enough: Learning from Leviticus at Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I watched my newsfeed and inbox fill up with pretty Advent devotional possibilities. I have purchased them in the past and will likely do so again another year. But for whatever reason, I started listening through the Bible in the middle of November (a totally logical time to start, thank you), which landed me in Exodus for much of Advent and, of course, Leviticus leading right into Christmas. Perfect.<\/p>

The thing about Leviticus is that we all let out a huge sigh of relief that we don\u2019t have to uphold those laws and regulations and steps and rituals and sacrifices and blood splattering (so. much. blood.) because, well, Jesus.<\/strong><\/p>

And it\u2019s super easy to skip that book, isn\u2019t it? I mean, Jesus did come to abolish the law after all, right? So we don\u2019t really need to read it. It\u2019s gruesome and messy and kind of the worst.<\/p>

But here\u2019s the thing: they did it. God\u2019s chosen people did their best to maintain the law\u00a0because it was what God asked of them.<\/em><\/p>

Have we forgotten?<\/h5>

It was so much work and even more sacrifice but it was what was required. Which begs the question: do I do what\u2019s required today, or am I simply relieved that it\u2019s not\u00a0that?<\/em><\/p>

What we know to be true is that these laws were required to even approach God\u2019s presence.<\/p>

Being clean and pure in order to find favour with the Lord was a matter of constant introspection, communal reflection and consistent submission. Do we still consider what it is the King of Kings deserves for us to enter His presence?<\/p>

Because He no longer requires it, because He gives His presence freely and access to His Spirit is offered limitlessly to those who submit to Him, have we forgotten what it means to have such access?<\/p>

Have I forgotten the holiness of God simply because of the certain access He has offered me through His Son and the gift of the Holy Spirit?<\/p>

Nearly two thousand years after Jesus\u2019 life, death and resurrection, I think we take the gift of presence for granted.<\/strong><\/p>

We do not fear rejection by God or, worse, Him removing Himself from life with us. We certainly do not fear death simply because our humanness prevents perfection. I think we have forgotten the gift of living in the age of the Spirit, with full knowledge of the Son, and full access to the Spirit.<\/p>

Lessons from Leviticus<\/h5>

So here\u2019s what I\u2019ve learned, knee deep in blood-splattered Leviticus at Christmastime:<\/p>