Spleens and Gallbladders

[I said] ''I've been a liar and I'll never amount to the kind of person you deserve to worship you.''
You said 'You will not dwell on what I did but rather what I do.''

~~

Back in the old testament, if you screwed up, you'd had better have gotten a move on to find some animals to sacrifice to redeem yourself. Then you would have to go through the rather horrible task of bashing them over the head, cutting them open, gutting them and cleaning the insides. Depending on how you sinned, that would determine several factors in this sacrifice:

1. what kind of animal you would sacrifice

2. what parts of the animal you would sacrifice

3. how you would prepare these bits of animal

4. what type of wood to sacrifice such on

5. ....

6. ....

Et cetera. Rather a gruesome task if you ask me, but fortunately we don't have to diminish the world's stock of animal any longer. I'm not saying that sacrifice was a waste of... ingredients... but God has given us a way where we really don't have to worry about the whole 'gutting' aspect of sin.

When I was thinking about it, I think I may get the reason people were told to sacrifice back in the day.

In the notorious and ever gorgeous Garden of Eden where all of mankind was screwed up forever (thanks for the labour pains, Eve. You're really awesome...) God said that there would be a barrier between himself and man. God was pretty much entirely segregated that when man continued to sin, God required a sacrifice (not in the form of a shrubbery mind you) in order to have man repent themselves of their mess-ups.

In english? You break it, you buy it.

Sin has this horrible way of getting into our lives, starting as a seed but then it grows little bit by little bit until it blooms. Rather like dandelions, they have their moment of frustrating 'beauty' then they go to seed, creating more and more little seeds that fling themselves into our being and settle there creating an army of dandelions (every gardener's worst nightmare... but I promise, no shrubbery offerings!).

Basically, sin guts us. It gets into us and ruins who we are. But by love, Jesus comes along with a weed-whacker and takes those suckers out.

That the people of old had to get into animals and remove what was impure for a pure sacrifice to God-- that's kind of what Jesus does for us every time we go to him on our knees, tears in our eyes saying 'Blast, I did it again! Can you please help me stop this!'

He (in simple languages) guts us. He takes out the crap and replaces it with his peace. We are finally a well manicured lawn with soft lush grass, fountains and lawn chairs with army green cushions.

He makes us whole. Without the nasty, revolting bit of de-instestinizing a critter.

Thank heaven.