"I am to my Beloved and my Beloved is to me" Song of Songs 6:3
If you had a very important day in your life, one that would determine exactly how your next year would go, would you want to miss it?
We are currently in the month of Elul, on the Jewish calendar. The Shofar is sounded every day of the month of Elul concluding with the Feast of Trumpets, when the final Trumpet is sounded. All of this information on our Hebraic roots is found in God's Holy Word in Leviticus 23.
The month of Elul is a month when the Jewish people begin an intensive period of looking back on their lives. I like to refer to it as "taking our own inventory." We take a good look at our relationship with God, and other people. How did the past year go for us? What areas were we weak in? What things did we do, that we don't want to do again, with the help of God.
God reaches out to us in the month of Elul in an effort to get us to the point of repentance, and turning away from those things we know are not to be a part of our relationship to Him. Elul ends this year on September 8th.
When I began to study my Hebraic roots I was intrigued by the Jewish belief that on Rosh Hoshana each individual is judged on the merit of his deeds. Whether he will live out the year or not. Whether he will have financial success or ruin. Whether he will be healthy or ill. All of these are determined by God on Rosh Hoshana.
My ex-husbands father, God rest his soul, was never excited about the fact that his son married a Gentile. For years he made my life miserable, however one year about this time he came to my office with boxes of candy for me and the other three women that worked with me, in that office, at the time. Of course not knowing about Elul, even though my ex-husband was a Messianic Jew, I was very suspicious of his intentions. The man really made an effort to be kind to me for each and every day I was married to his son from that day forward. I suppose he had, "taken his inventory" and realized he was treating me unfairly.
The interesting thing about it was that until I married Chuck and learned, in detail, about our Hebraic Roots, I didn't realize why there had been such a nice change in my ex-father in law.
Looking back, that tells me just how seriously the Jews took the month of Elul and getting right with God. They realized that God makes choices for the year ahead at that time, and it's very important that we make things right with those whom we have offended, if at all possible.
The first year I learned this, I took inventory of not the past year, but the past few years. I made an effort if at all possible to ask forgiveness of anyone I had offended. Some were quite gracious and some never responded.
“And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” Mark 11:24-26
A lot of times we pray and wonder why God is not answering. During those times I often rack my brain, is there anyone I need to forgive? Could there be someone who needs to forgive me? Some of you know my story of being involved in a cult during the early seventies, prior to accepting Christ as my savior.
I can tell you God takes forgiveness very seriously. The woman who was the cult leader was up at the podium. She was talking about a woman who had been causing a lot of trouble for the cult. She started to talk loudly and she said, "As long as I live I will never forgive her." Then she took her fist and pounded it down on the podium several times. She was a rather large woman, and the pounding caused the loud speakers, that were on the wall in those days, to fall to the ground.
I jumped in fright, and my bible fell off of my lap. I picked it up and looked at the scripture it had fallen open to. The scripture was Matthew 18:22 when Jesus was asked how many times should we forgiven and He said the following;
Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
I did not come from a church going, bible believing family. I knew nothing much about the bible at that time, at all. Still God had His hand on my life.
It still blows my mind how God used that scripture to show me that this was wrong teaching, and these people were not Christians. I got up, gathered my children and told them, "Run to the car, we are leaving," Some of those cult members ran after us, but finally we got away, and like Lot's wife, leaving Sodom and Gomorrah, I never looked back.
So as the weekend begins, let's all take a look back at the past year and seriously consider the things we have done and not done. Let us repent, leave the past behind and go forward with God! If we need forgiveness I pray we are granted it, and if someone has hurt us, I pray they too ask for our forgiveness.
Father, Thank You for being the God of second, and third chances. Thank you that you grant us forgiveness of our sins, help us to treat others the same way! In Your Name, the Name above all names we pray. Amen and Amen.
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