February - 4
THE RIGHT ADDRESS
“Slaughter it . . . before the Lord . . . .” Leviticus 1:11
Your house or car payment is a debt you owe a bank or another lender. Your debt is paid or reduced when you send your monthly payment to the appropriate address. But if you send it to another address, even by accident, the money will end up in the wrong hands. In a case like that, you might believe your account is paid, but you’d be wrong.
Sacrifices, too, must be brought to the right address. That’s why God instructs Israel to make their sacrifices “before the Lord,” presenting them at the tabernacle entrance (1:3, 5) and nowhere else. God gives these instructions for good reason. The world of Israel’s neighbors is filled with sacrificial altars. Everyone believes in paying their religious debts, but not everyone believes there was only one correct address for payment. Some believe that sacrifices can be offered at many different altars. But in cases like that, the debt is not paid.
God reveals one secure address for the cancellation of our debt of sin. So there are not many altars—just one. There are not all kinds of sacrifice, only the one sacrifice accepted by God through the death of Jesus Christ.
There is only one way to God—through Jesus—“for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Trusting in Jesus as your sacrifice, you can be sure your debt is paid.
PRAYER
Lord, we offer ourselves as living sacrifices to you, out of gratitude for all Christ has done to save us. Thank you for assuring us that our debt is paid through Jesus Christ. Amen.
你的房子或车子的供款，是你欠银行或债主的债务，当你把每月还款送到适当地点，你的债务便会得到偿还或扣减。但假如你把款项送到另一个地点，即使是出于意外，最终也只会误落别人手中，在这种情况下，你可以认为你的债务已经偿还了，但这是大错特错的。
同样地，我们也必须把献祭献到正确的地点。所以，神指示以色列民要在「耶和华面前」和会幕门口献上他们的供物（1:3,5），切不可在别的地方。神这样指示他们，是有很重要的理由的。因为以色列的邻国，到处都是祭坛，尽管人人都相信必须偿还对神的债务，但并非人人都相信只有一个正确的付款地点。有些人认为可以在许多不同的祭坛献祭，但他们这样作，是不能偿还债务的。
神指出一个安全的付款地点，使我们的罪债得以免除。故此，献祭的祭坛不多，只有一个。而蒙神悦纳的献祭只有一个，就是耶稣基督的死。
只有借着耶稣基督才能到达神那里，「除他以外，别无拯救；因为在天下人间，没有赐下别的名，我们可以靠着得救」（使徒行传4:12）。你若相信耶稣已成为你的献祭，你便能确定你的罪债已得还清。
祷告
主啊，我们把自己当作活祭献给祢，以表示我们感谢基督为拯救我们所成就的一切。感谢祢向我们保证，我们的罪债已藉耶稣基督得以还清。阿们。