Leviticus 5-7

I’ve been sitting here thinking about accidental sins, after reading these chapters in Leviticus. God tells us He takes those sins seriously. I confess I not only don’t take them seriously, I don’t give them a thought. I might have to reconsider that position.

J. Vernon McGee, in his Commentary on Leviticus 1-14 says this on page 64:

“We can’t be out in the world without becoming unclean by seeing things and hearing things and thinking things. We are unclean. We may not even realize that we have come in contact with the unclean. It may be hidden from us so we are not even aware of it. But we are not to rush into God’s presence until we are cleansed.” (Thomas Nelson Publishers; Nashville, TN; 1991)

I was standing in the checkout line at the grocery and inadvertently read the cover of a magazine and saw the picture of a half -naked famous person. I didn’t pick it up to get a better look. I didn’t buy the magazine. In fact, I haven’t even thought about it until now.

The question I find myself asking is, can I be pure before my holy God with that picture in my mind? If I had gone on an internet site to purposefully view pictures like that I would have no problem identifying that as sin. But, God forgive me, I have that picture in my mind whether I meant to or not.

I John 1:9 tells us if we confess our sins God will be faithful to forgive our sins. But what if we don’t know we’ve sinned? Does God forgive sin even if we don’t confess? Are we guilty of sin when we sin, or when we know we’ve sinned?

Dear God, I am a sinner. I have pictures in my mind, thoughts going through my head, careless words coming out of my mouth, blowing off things I know I should do. I see things, hear things, think things that offend you. I sin. So, God, I ask you to forgive me the sins I commit without even knowing. Forgive anything that makes me impure. And if there are specific things you want me to deal with, please bring them to mind. I may sin accidentally, but I’m asking you to forgive me on purpose.