Leviticus 22:6–7: “The [Priest] who has touched any [unclean] thing shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat the holy offerings unless he washes his body with water. And when the sun goes down he shall be clean; and afterward he may eat the holy offerings, because it is his food.”

January 5th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Priests were to be a go-between, an advocate, a mediator, someone who arbitrated between the people and God. When they came in contact with something or someone unclean, they had to wash themselves with water. In the New Testament Peter says that when we accept Christ, we become a part of a new and holy priesthood, and as priests we have direct access to God the Son.
 So when we read in the Old Testament that the priest was to “wash his body with water,” we are reminded that we also need to be washed when our lives come into contact with sin. “Wash me!” was the prayer of King David. “Wash!” was the message of John the Baptist. “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me,” said the towel-draped Jesus to His disciples. Without our being washed clean, we would die from the contamination of sin.

But what water are we to be washed with? Jesus said in John 15:3: “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” Paul echoed this in Ephesians 5:25: “Just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word.” God’s word is the water we are washed by. And when we come to it daily, the grime of living in a fallen world gets washed away.

Did you notice in this text that it says when the “sun goes down he shall be clean?” This is an important truth we need to apply to our relationship with the Lord today. We should stop beating ourselves up for yesterday’s sin. We are commanded to confess and repent of sin. But then we are to get on with the business of walking with the Lord this day.

“LORD, Thank You that You have made us clean. Help us to serve You with Your power and grace.”