Self-denial
Le viticus 16:23-34
23 “Then Aaron is to go into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments he put on before he entered the Most Holy Place, and he is to leave them there. 24 He shall bathe himself with water in the sanctuary area and put on his regular garments. Then he shall come out and sacrifice the burnt offering for himself and the burnt offering for the people, to make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 He shall also burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar. 26 “The man who releases the goat as a scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp. 27 The bull and the goat for the sin offerings, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement, must be taken outside the camp; their hides, flesh and intestines are to be burned up. 28 The man who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp.29 “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work—whether native-born or a foreigner residing among you— 30 because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins. 31 It is a day of sabbath rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance. 32 The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments 33 and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the tent of meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the members of the community. 34 “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.” And it was done, as the Lord commanded Moses.
After having finished all the work of offerings and releasing the scapegoat and cleaning all the clothes and bodies, it was a duty for the participants to rest on the day, denying themselves, which was a lasting ordinance(ceremony). What does denying mean? As Jesus said, quote "If you want to follow me, you should deny yourself and follow me.", so denial sounds very important and meaningful as a follower and a believer of God.
Denying means, 'I am not who I think I am.' I have thought of myself, in many ways, thinking, such as a mom of two young adults, a daughter of my parents and a wife of my husband, and an English Meddler, whose identity is newly named by myself, etc. However, these are not myself, rather I found out that I myself was a child of God, that Jesus is the Savior of my souls from sins, and that the Holy Spirit abide with me, then my presence was totally changed into a new presence, and the old-self or the concept of myself was nothing. Nothing does not mean 'meaningless' rather, 'Not real'.
However, I oftentimes forget the fact, so I need to deny myself, thinking about my real-self on the Sabbath day. Sabbath in the word, I could see bath, means washing, like the priests did after and before going to God, by offering many kinds of sacrifices. The day seems like the only day for denying myself, not doing anything else except the holy work in a temple of God or in a church doing some work of helping others and resting at home. Whenever I do my routine and whatever I do on a daily basis, I easily forget about who I am, the presence of myself.
Therefore, I need to have this resting time (Sabbath) in God, reminding me of my real identity in life. Denial is not the behaviors of throwing away what I have or think, rather I can tell that it is the intentional action of turning back to the original place of my presence: Being born again. Focusing on the time when I met Jesus and welcomed Him as my Savior, and nothing is more meaningful and valuable than this. Anowledging about this truth is the first step to do self-denial, just remembering it in life, even on the Sabath, or on the Holy Day.
