"Powerless Sacrifices"

 "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." (Hebrews 10:4 KJV)

  ""You have heard that our ancestors were told, 'You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.' But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell. So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God."" (Matthew 5:21-24 NLT)

 Interestingly enough, there are several different ways to view this, somewhat simple lesson that Jesus is making regarding anger against someone; and yes, this is something that is associated with what is being said, as it involves the forgiveness of our sins.

 Not that I believe we can lose our salvation over anger against someone or that our foolishness will be something that condemns us to hell; but it surely will ruin our testimony and make life harder to deal with here on earth. There surely are consequences for the way we treat others, especially if we can't bring ourselves to try and make things right.

 Just so you know, the sacrifices of the bulls and goats were only meant to cover sins; they had no power at all to take away sins. Only the blood of Jesus can remove our sins! But, just as that foot washing Jesus did with His disciples, we still can sin; and that sin we commit is something that will need to be washed away! 

 Now, about these things we might have against someone, or someone might have against us; these can be something we can do to offend them, something they have done to us, or, without even saying a word out loud, we could just think it to ourselves, without them even knowing. As if all three of those issues were enough, the worst of all that we can do, is to talk bad about people behind their backs! 

 There is just something important about the commandments we must fry to follow, which are just predicated on just two commands: Love God and love others as yourselves...

"But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they meet together to question him again. One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: "Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?" Jesus replied, "'You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments."" (Matthew 22:34-40 NLT)