The scripture for today, July 1 (7/1), is Leviticus 7:1f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible.
Romans 3:23 says the wages of sin is death. The earnings are paid by Satan, the author of death. The earnings for your sins were collected by substitute deaths of substitute perfect animals over and over in the Old Testament. But Jesus nailed the Old Law to the cross (Colossians 2:14), and with his one sacrifice made it so that no more blood sacrifices were necessary (Hebrews 8-9).
In a sense, Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, laid down on the altar of the world where his blood flowed from all sides of the cross to all sides of the earth. Why would anyone want to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem and nullify that horribleness Jesus went through in our place?
Jesus collected your wages from Satan for your sins in your place. We can never, ever thank him enough. Instead of temple ceremonies, he asked you to commemorate his death with the Lord’s Supper, the Holy Communion each week. Do you? On Sundays, the day he came back to life, do you?
I adore you, God. I look up to you in awe that you, my Creator, allow me up so close to you. I am frail. I am feeble. I am made of dust. But you breathed into me the breath of life. Just think! I have the breath of God in me. Oh, miracle of miracles! I will return that breath to you in songs of praise. With that same breath I will extol you to the end of my days on earth, and then resume in your world before your throne forever. As small as I am, you take time to know me ~ the good and the bad ~ and love me still, and make me your friend. More, you have made me your child. Wonder of wonders.
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