The beauty of engaging

So I've been reading through the old testament since the start of the year. If I were to be honest I would have to admit that with this process comes some times when I have to ask the Lord to really make it stand out. It can get dry, or so I always thought. I have never read through the entire Bible from cover to cover and I decided to do so this year. You hear the jokes about how dry the sections are with all the commandments and sacrifice rituals. But for me it has only made me appreciate Jesus more. God and man were in perfect relationship. The fall brought sin. Separation entered the relationship. No longer could man freely interact or come before the Lord. Sacrifice after sacrifice, attempt after attempt to re-engage. What if that were the case today? You sinned, well go get a goat, or bird, and some grain. Repeat daily because we all fall into sin everyday. Praise Jesus Christ that we do not have to! We don't have to go to one certain place or have a priest step in on our behalf. Jesus was our sacrifice once and for all. Through a beautiful display of selflessness stepping in and taking the best the world could throw at Him, Jesus made an eternal way for us to come before the Father. Take a few minutes today to really soak that in and appreciate our savior. We take Him for granted too often. And the fact that we can engage with the Lord at any time, in any place, and in any situation... Let your heart fall to its knees and be humbled in His beauty. The way I see it, He took our place on the cross so we ought to take His place here. "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship." -Romans 12:1