LEVITICUS 16:29-30 : This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day
of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country
or a stranger who sojourns among you. For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to
cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.
The resurgence of infectious diseases and their growing resistance to antibiotics are renewing the
need for low-tech health practices like hand washing.
Reports in the Journal of the American Medical Association and other medical journals cite studies
that link outbreaks of bacterial and viral illness in hospitals, nursing homes and child-care centers to
the absence of basic cleanliness.
In a similar fashion, what dirt does to our physical health, sin does to our spiritual health. That’s why
God instructed Moses to set aside a day each year called the Day of Atonement. On that day the high
priest made a special sacrifice on behalf of the people that they might be cleansed from their sin.
Their spiritual health depended on it.
In the New Testament, we don’t need a special day for cleansing. Not only is the blood of Jesus
sufficient to atone for our sins when we are born again, it is also continually available to clean up
those spots of sin that splash onto our lives every day. The apostle John wrote, “the blood of Jesus
Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
If there is sin in your life, confess it to God today and claim the blood of Christ. Your spiritual health
depends on it.
A CLEANSED CHRISTIAN IS A HEALTHY CHRISTIAN.