Rituals are a huge part of our lives and they’ve had lasting influences in our cultures.  Some have lasted over the time that has passed while others have thankfully passed into obscurity.  Within Christianity rituals can get in the way of the relationship sometimes and it’s a hard line to walk in knowing what you’re doing that has a personal meaning between you and Christ and something you simply do because they do it at church or small group.

I say this so much I think I’ve beaten the dead horse, crucified it, resurrected it and repeated the process a few more times…Christianity is a relationship with your saviour.  God and you.  That’s it.  Not Joel Osteen, not some guy in a podium preaching at you…those guys are great resources to use as guides.  It’s and YOU and HIM thing.

In the Old School God wanted his people clean and prepared for the offering.  That same idea still stays true today in a small part.  When you go to God your heart should be in the right place.  It should be focused on God and the direction of His commands for your life.  If our hearts, minds and souls are conflicted, misdirected or redacted we’re only selling ourselves short.

God is Holy.  He wants and needs us to be too.  These rules helped bring the Israelites into the kingdom of Heaven.  It took them awhile but He got them there after all the trials and tribulations.  Today He’s in the same place. Giving us the instructions on what he wants and needs from us.  Will we listen and obey?  Or will we strike off in our own  direction ignorant of the storm brewing down the path away from Him?

Questions I must marinate my brain on.  How about you?

In this verse the goat is left to live. From what I know about The Old Testament (from now forward known as “Old School”) to erase the sin we had to kill something and then sacrifice it to God. Now as I’m reading through these first few chapters of the Holy Bible I’m discovering all kinds of facets of The Old School that give me a touch more insight into thie being of God and why he was the way he was and is.

I know…my head is spinning too. I’m going top spend some time reading back and forth in this book. Short and sweet today.

Today is a rush because…well, I’ve got to sleep in preparation for my medical procedure in the morning. I wanted to at least put something to paper saying I indeed had done my devotion finally and was back on track. So here we go.

The greatest questions for me always come into play when the Old Testament is on the table. The “old school” way of doing thing with God is both fascinating and terrifying. God had innocent animals that he had created killed to shed blood to absolve our sins and misdeeds. There were reams of rules, regulations and requirements for the people of God to follow in order to be considered upstanding and upright followers of The One True God. All of these rules and regulations of course led to interpretation which led to the events that eventually brought us to the Crucifixion of Jesus and the symbolic tearing of the curtain that had long separated us from God.

I think God’s head was in the right place (dangerous territory I’m headed into so bear with me) because he knew of our simple needs and simple hearts. We needed boundaries. We needed laws. And most of all we needed to have object lessons to remind us that indeed we were sinners. Killing of the sacrifices and following the rules of them was a consistent slap in the face for the people. You might fall into the ritual of the act and probably forget the real reason down along the line but for however long…you knew why innocent blood was spilled. You understood the implication.

God’s world had turned to Darkness and the way of sin had become pain. That pain extended to his creation and the people living within it. I’m no theologian but I can imagine God trying to impress upon generation upon generation the lesson of what the original sin had done to the once perfect world and why the fight against it must be waged. I would like think knowing my abstract history of the Old Testament that he succeeded with His people more than he failed.

That begs the question (which I won’t answer) does God ever fail? Or is it his stubborn stuck up creation doing the failing over and over again until eventually someone gets it right?

That is the question I will leave myself and you with.