no more shame..

so.. i've been reading leviticus. it is mostly about sacrifice so far.. this animal for this sin, how it should be done, and so on.. sounds boring, right? like it doesn't apply to us? well.. yes and no. it is actually really good to read. now.. my theology on this could be wrong, and probably is so i'm sorry for that but sure.. here are my unstudied thoughts anyway.

one thing that has really struck me is the idea of being "unclean." leviticus goes through what makes you clean or unclean and if you are unclean, it explains the sacrifices needed to make you clean again. the conditions are often harsh and being unclean means you are excluded from the camp. in reading through all of this, it all just seems so unfair. for a leper that can't help the fact that they have a disease to be cast out and "...remain unclean as long as he has the disease. he is unclean. he shall live alone. his dwelling shall be outside the camp." (lev 13v46) when i read that i kind of felt angry. it doesn't sound very just. i understand that God is holy and cannot be with sin and disease is a part of that. disease was not intended. but it seems so unjust because they cannot control it. but as i keep reading, and take in the whole text, it reminds me of just how good Christ is.

Christ did not have to die for our sins, but He did. and all of this business about being unclean does not apply to us anymore if we have Christ. i believe that from birth, we are unclean with sin.. but for those of us that are children of God, at some point the beautiful thing that is grace intervenes and God breathes life into us. we are made clean through the blood that Christ shed on the cross and we do not have to be ashamed anymore. what shame the lepers must have felt, even if the disease went away and they made the proper sacrifices to be able to come back into the camp, they still must have felt shame.. i mean, read leviticus 15 where it talks about bodily discharges. you make people unclean just by touching them! "sorry, but i just touched you, so now you are unclean as well because i..." well you know. read it for yourself. but we are not subject to that anymore. we are free from the law in Christ. we are under a new covenant.

what beauty.

what joy.

what freedom we can find in the grace of the cross.

what a day..

so today i feel really accomplished. i finished my last journal entry for my pastoral theology class. we did a journal throughout the semester instead of doing an essay which was awesome. so there's that. and i am done with my essay..well i finished it on tuesday but i printed it out today so it feels official...

wow. i was going to write a really nice blog and maybe even reflect on my life or something but i just took nyquill and am already feeling drowsy/loopy... and i still have to walk home. crap. i should go.