Thought from today’s Bible reading from Leviticus 1-4.
“Now if anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty, if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without defect, for his sin which he has committed. He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slay the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering” (Leviticus 4:27-29).
Prior to this, instructions were given regarding sacrifices for unintentional sins committed by the priests (Leviticus 4:3), the whole congregation (Leviticus 4:13), and a leader of the people (Leviticus 4:22). Here instructions were given for one of the common people sinning unintentionally.
This should remind us of God’s attitude toward sin. Transgressing the law of God unintentionally, carelessly, or in ignorance does not mean that the action does not count as sin. Sin is sin. Regardless of how aware we may or may not have been about what was transpiring, God expects His people to seek forgiveness whenever we violate His law.
This also reminds us of how important it is that we know the law of God. We cannot repent and seek forgiveness if we do not know we have done something wrong in the first place.
Furthermore, if we sin unintentionally and someone is concerned enough to bring it to our attention, we ought not lash out at that person. Rather, we should humbly accept his help and make correction wherever necessary.
Tomorrow’s reading: Leviticus 5-7
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
