OUR DAILY BREAD : THE BLAME GAME

[cimi]

SUNDAY MAY 31


THE BLAME GAME

READ:
John 1:29
_________________________________________________________________________________________
The next day John
saw Jesus coming
toward him, and
said, "Behold!
The Lamb of God
who takes away
the sin of the
world!"
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I've been blamed for a lot of things, and rightly so. My sin, failure, and incompetence have caused grief, anxiety, and inconvenience for friends and family (and probably even for strangers). I've also been blamed for things that were not my fault, things I was powerless to change.

But I have stood on the other side of the fence hurling accusations at others. If they had just done something different, I tell myself, I would not be in the mess I'm in. Blame hurts. So whether guilty or not, we waste lots of time and mental energy trying to find someone else to carry it for us.

Jesus offers us a better way to deal with blame. Even though He was blameless, He took upon Himself the sin of the world and carried it away (JOHN 1:29). We often refer to Jesus as the sacrificial lamb, but He was also the final scapegoat for everything that is wrong with the world (LEV. 16:10).

Once we acknowledge our sin and accept Christ's offer to take it away, we no longer have to carry the weight of our guilt. We can stop looking for someone to blame for what's wrong with us, and we can stop accepting blame from others trying to do the same.

Thanks to Jesus, we can stop playing the blame game.
__Julie Ackerman Link

***Help me, Lord, to be honest when I am at fault and to confess that to You__
instead of looking for someone else to blame. Thank You for taking my blame
on Yourself. _______________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Honesty about our sin brings forgiveness.

*****************************************Today's Bible Reading __ Leviticus 16:5-22**********************************
5 And he shall take from the congregation of the children
of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one
ram as a burnt offering.

6 Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which
is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his
house. 7 He shall take the two goats and present them before the
LORD at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 8 Then Aaron shall
cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the LORD and the other lot
for the scapegoat. 9 And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the
LORD's lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering. 10 But the goat on
which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive
before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as
the scapegoat into the wilderness.

11 And Aaron shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for
himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and
shall kill the bull as the sin offering....

15 Then he he shall kill the goat f sin offering, which is
for the people.... 16 So he shall make atonement for the Holy
Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel....

20 And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy
Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring
the live goat. 21 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of
the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children
of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins,
putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away
into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. 22 The goat
shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land;
and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.