the Fourth Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 1 of 5
Leviticus 5:14 to Leviticus 6:7
The most scrupulous Israelite could always be in fear that he had forgotten a sin committed through ignorance. And that as soon as he had brought a costly sacrifice, a new act of infidelity could require another. Alas! in spite of the certainties of God’s Word, many Christians are still living today with the same fear. They make their salvation depend on sincere efforts to appease God, by almsgiving, and penances, without ever being sure that they will suffice. What it is to be unaware of the fullness of divine grace! And what happiness we possess if we are delivered from that fear by the assurance that Jesus has done everything for us.
Our passage distinguishes sins against God (vv. 15, 17) from sins against our neighbour (Leviticus 6:2-3). We are often less concerned about the first than about the second. It should be the other way round. Concerning wrong done to another, it was not only necessary to put it right, but also to bring a sacrifice to the LORD (Leviticus 6:6; see Psalms 51:4). Conversely, it was not enough only to put oneself right with God. The day when the guilty repentant person offered a sacrifice for his fault, he had also to put the situation right before men (Leviticus 6:5). That is what Zacchaeus understood on the red-letter day when Jesus entered his house (Luke 19:8).
