December 28

”But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance." (Hebrews 9:7)

In today's scripture Paul retrieves images from the Old Testament description of the tabernacle that the people of Israel carried with them on the desert journey. What is interesting is that the high priest atoned once a year for the unintended sins of men.

The Bible is very conscious of that man, subsequent to the Fall can’t help but sin. It’s part of man’s nature. The New Testament lays down clearly what we are to do when we have sinned. We are to confess and receive God's forgiveness and cleansing (1 John 1:9).

But the Old Testament mentions in several places that we can sin without being aware. If we do not know that we have sinned, we can’t apologize for it. What do we do then? We must do as the psalmist did. We are to pray: ‘Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me, then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.’ (Ps 19:13)

Sometimes it's nice to ask God to forgive, not only what I know about, but also my secret faults.

Prayer

Lord, You who know me better than I know myself. You who see everything in me. Thank You for Your willingness to forgive what I did wrong, whether I knew about it or not.