“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14
We are now in the midst of a very special time for the Jewish people in Israel and around the world. The days of self-inspection (also repentence) is a 40-day period where we search our hearts for all the wrong we have done during the year as preparation for Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement). “Tashlich”, a ceremony of symbolically “throwing” our sins away by casting crumbs into the sea or a river falls within this 40-day period, on the day of Rosh Hashanah (The Feast of Trumpets).
While we as followers of the Messiah know that we are redeemed by His blood alone, and that casting off our sins cannot be done simply by throwing crumbs into a body of water, I believe we are to take the idea of “self inspection” very seriously. The difference is that we need to do it daily, not just once a year for a period of 40 days.
“Then Yeshua told his talmidim, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him say `No’ to himself, take up his execution-stake, and keep following me.” Matt 16:24 Complete Jewish Bible
It is important that we take the time daily, and search our lives for anything that is not glorifying to our God, repent of it, and stop doing it.
It is my prayer that during this time, where many of my Jewish brothers and sisters who do not yet know the Messiah, are taking the time for “self inspection”, they will discover:
“Since all have sinned and come short of earning God’s praise.” (Rom 3:23), and there is nothing that can “pay off” their sins before God apart from accepting the redemptive work of our Messiah.
Shabbat Shalom.