What does Yom Kippur mean to you? What does it mean to each of us? For me as a child it meant a day of not eating or drinking - that's all. We didn't go to synagogue and I don't remember being aware of anyone in our family praying. It's only in recent years, as I have come to believe and trust in God, that I think about it at all, trying to work out in what way I personally will observe this day. Take two Jews and you get three opinions, they say, so I guess I'm entitled to one and a half opinions on this matter.
So, what does Yom Kippur mean to me now? First of all a reminder that we are all sinners, all in need of kapparah, atonement. There is a lovely, simple gospel song that goes something like this: "It's me, it's me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer. Not my brother, not my sister, but me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer." And that's it, that's the thing that is so easy to forget in our day-to-day lives, as we moan and grumble about what others do wrong, as we allow ourselves the comfort of feeling that others are much worse sinners than us - after all, compared to people like Hitler or Bin Laden, we are perfect, aren't we?
But when I pause, stop the day-to-day busyness and take time to think and pray, take time to look at myself with God's eyes - oh, no, it's too much to bear! I know I'm far from perfect. I know not just how I behave but how I think and feel. I know not just how I in fact reacted to that driver that cut me up on the road, I know how I really felt like reacting. I know not just the things I have done wrong - and they are many - but the evil thoughts I have allowed myself to think.
And this makes me so grateful for God's fantastic gift of atonement, of kappara, the gift that in his great love and mercy he offers to everyone through Messiah Yeshua.
If you haven't yet accepted this gift for yourself, I urge you to give it serious consideration. Whether or not you are fasting this Yom Kippur, whether or not you are praying this Yom Kippur, no amount of fasting or prayer can achieve the eternal atonement that we all need. God loves you and desires what is best for you. There is no sin that is too big for his forgiveness, nothing that is beyond his mercy. He has provided the ultimate kappara, the perfect sacrifice once and for all. Yeshua the Messiah went to death to pay for everyone's sins. Accept his gift once and for all, and live the rest of your life with the peace that only this perfect atonement can bring. He loves you. Don't turn your back on him.
