For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist,” says the Lord. “But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.
Once a year on the Day of Atonement, God decreed a day of repentance to address specifically the sins of His people and the nation. Corporate repentance begins with personal repentance. It is not a day merely to go through the motion of fasting and prayers, but with a heart truly sorry for all our sins, we come seeking for God’s mercy and forgiveness.
A person who is poor, in every sense of the word, with a contrite spirit who takes God’s words very seriously, draws God’s attention. Notice that it is not a perfect man who captured His attention, but a humble man. The days leading to the Day of Atonement is an opportunity for us to draw near to the mercy seat of God. These are appointed times with God, to be transparent with Him and ask for His forgiveness of all our sins and failings, admitting our weaknesses and our imperfection.
The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) is most meaningful to us because we have the Atoning Blood of Jesus shed for us on the Cross. The sins that entangle us, even the iniquities in our bloodline, are washed away in full. The cross marks the beginning of a new cycle of God’s blessings, it marks the ending of the old cycles of sins and curses. List down anything that belongs to the old cycle, bring them to the Cross in humility and repentance. Look to the Lord for a beginning of the “New”, starting with us. Let go of those things that hold us. If we don’t, God cannot free us from the “old”. If we are not freed from the old mindset, life style and attitudes, we cannot break forth into the new fruitfulness and abundance.
Let us take a step of faith forward, and expect to see our breakthrough from God!