It's not my inadvertent sin that's the problem

In my quest to read through the Bible in a year, February has always been a challenge for me because it brings me to the book of Leviticus, and that has always been a hard book to read through.  It is full of detailed instructions for how the Israelites were to carry out their worship.  Because this was all before the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, most of these rules and regulations seemed to be irrelevant to my life now.  However, I have come to see how many ways reading these rules and regulations and standards are principles upon which I can base my own relationship to God now.    It has been a rewarding venture in recent years to read books of the Bible such as Leviticus in a totally new way.  I have gained unexpected spiritual insight and it is spiritually invigorating!

Leviticus 4:27b-28a …when they realize their guilt … they must bring as their offering for the sin they committed…

These verses are describing the sin offering procedures that the Israelites were to follow.  For me, the “what” is second in importance to the “why” and the “when” of this offering.  When was the person to bring the sin offering?  When he/she realized their guilt.  If they had inadvertently sinned, as soon as they realized what they had done, they were to bring the offering.  My concern needs to be with what I recognize as sin in my life.  That is what I need to worry about asking for forgiveness for, not the inadvertent sins I may have committed.  I can ask forgiveness for them when I recognize them as sin. I need not worry; if it is sin, God will help me recognize it (if not now, sometime soon). 

Why bring the offering?  Because that is my acknowledgement before God that I have sinned.  God already knew it, but I need to acknowledge it as sin and part of doing that is for me to ask God’s forgiveness.  Once that sin is taken care of, I can move on as forgiven by God for that sin.  I can move on to the next step, understanding whatever guilt I have in some other area of my life, and repeat the process.  This is part of my process in growing spiritually, and the step-by-step aspect of this process is immensely liberating!