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How many times have I done weekly laundry in my 60 years of married life? I've lost count. And yet the need still arises for me to continue. It is not hard with the modern convenience of washers and dryers, but the repetitive nature of this activity still is with me. I sort, wash, dry, and fold. I feel satisfaction when all the items are folded and put away in the linen closet, and once again, I am finished. That satisfaction lasts only until the next load of dirty clothes needs to be washed again. Perhaps we all have similar things that will always be ours to do as long as we can. Some seem to be endless tasks.
When I think of endless tasks, I am reminded of Moses' brother Aaron, who made endless, repetitive burnt sacrifices, day after day, year after year.
Leviticus 6:9b-12a – The burnt offering shall be on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. And the priest shall put on his linen garment and put his linen undergarment on his body, and he shall take up the ashes to which the fire has reduced the burnt offering on the altar and put them beside the altar. Then he shall take off his garments and put on other garments and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not go out. (ESV)
Note that leaving his linen clothes after the sacrifice was part of the requirement.
Later, Scripture contrasts the priestly repetition with Christ's finished task.
Hebrews 10:11-12,14 – And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take aways sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (ESV)
After Jesus was raised from the dead, Peter and John ran to confirm what the women had reported about the empty tomb.
John 20:6-7 – Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. (ESV)
Friends, did you catch the little surprise in this record? The tomb was empty of the body, but there was something left behind: The linen cloths were there, the sign of a finished sacrifice. It is finished, once and for all!
Let us always be grateful that we no longer have to make repetitious sacrifices or obey detailed legalistic requirements. Jesus paid it all!
Prayer: Father in heaven, we thank You for Your Son Jesus, the finisher of our faith. Help us always to serve You out of our love for You and not because of duty or fear. Amen.
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Thank-you Sharon, that was amazing!
Thanks for the good reminder, Sharon.
Well done I really enjoyed this analogy.
Our faith in Jesus is enough- Praise God.
Thanks Sharon very good devotional. Blessings.
Thank you, Sharon for sharing your beautiful thoughts. I always like your work!
What a very interesting analogy. Always good to learn new things from the Bible.
Amen and amen, Sharon. To God be the glory! Thank you for sharing this encouraging devotional with us. Blessings.
Thank you for your devotional today Sharon. Encouraging words in your closing prayer. Blessings as you continue to prepare and share your writings.
What great teaching, Sharon. Really helpful to have the analogy with Aaron.
Thanks for a good start to the day,
(BC)
I liked your “little surprise” comment here, Sharon. I also liked your connection of our daily mundane repetitive tasks with the fact that Jesus’ atonement for our sins overrides the need for repetitive sacrifices.
Good morning Sharon
Yes, it is a good feeling when laundry is all put away. At my age I am also thankful I can still go downstairs to the machine and back up to hang the clothes on the line.
I had a minister who also explained why the cloth was separate from the linen was to show Jesus was coming back. So thankful for what He has done for us.
God bless.
Wow, I never realized that. Thank you very much for your shared insight on this.
As a side note, laundry is the one thing I love doing. It’s always the first chore I want to do. Another analogy I could use is – do I run to the Lord with my sin and let him clean me with the same joy I have in doing laundry? I would say no, but perhaps I’m depriving him of his joy in cleansing me. I never thought of it quite like that, but perhaps I need to meditate on this and look at asking for forgiveness in a different way…..
Thanks again!
Dear Sharon,
That is a very astute observation! The priests of old, changing out of and leaving their linen garments behind after the sacrifice offering was finished and our dear Lord Jesus leaving his linen clothes behind in the tomb after completing the ultimate Sacrifice of Himself.
Very keen observation indeed. I loved it.
God bless.
Hi Sharon,
Thanks again for this devotional. We have also been married over 60 years. I have noticed that our two daughters have become increasingly bossy! Our son is a little less so.
The daughters are absolutely adorable but they are “fixed” on making everything is very straight and all excesses thrown away. I just let them carry on and when they leave, I “fix” things the way they were! In spite of that they are quite wonderful and very caring in their concern for us.
May was very rainy here to the point that we lost a couple of dams on our creek, but now, we are back to our Texas heat. When I was growing up, we lived in the north and did not think one thing about the cold weather. NOW, I prefer the heat.
Hope today finds you well and thank you again for your writing.
Thank you, Sharon, for this interesting lesson and reminding us that Jesus paid it all for us.