Day 53

Leviticus 16-17 | Romans 15:14-33 | Psalm 23

I was talking with a colleague today as we worked through the details of a big conference our team is hosting next week.

She’s had a tough time with the planning—unexpected challenges, last-minute changes, all the things that make a large-scale event like this stressful.

So I told her, “I’m so sorry you have to deal with this.”

She laughed and said, “It’s no problem because I still have all ten fingers.” She meant it as a joke—because I don’t. I laughed too because self-deprecating humor is right in my wheelhouse.

So I mentioned my blog—how I’ve been writing about the accident and everything God is teaching me through it.

And that’s when she said it:

“I’ve seen it, but I’m not a religious person. But I am spiritual.”

My heart sank—not because she rejected religion, but because she was settling for something empty.

Because there’s no purpose in religion. And there’s no point in spirituality.

The only point is Jesus.

The Blood That Covers

Leviticus 16 is all about the Day of Atonement—the one day each year when the high priest would enter the Most Holy Place and make a sacrifice for the sins of the people. It was the holiest day in Israel’s calendar. The weightiest. The most serious.

And it was all about blood.

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.” (Leviticus 17:11)

That was the entire system. The priest would offer the blood of a spotless animal as a substitute—because without the shedding of blood, there was no forgiveness of sins.

But that system was never meant to be the final answer. It was always pointing to something greater.

To Someone greater.

To Jesus.

The Only Atonement That Matters

Romans 15 is Paul’s personal reflection on his mission—to take the gospel where it has never been heard. And his words are full of urgency:

“I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation.” (Romans 15:20)

Paul wasn’t preaching vague spirituality. He wasn’t offering people a new religious system.

He was preaching Christ.

Because there is no other way. No other name. No other sacrifice.

And as I heard my colleague say she was “spiritual but not religious,” I thought about all the people searching for something—peace in the chaos, purpose in their pain, meaning beyond the temporary. But without Christ, all they have is empty religion. Empty spirituality. A hollow shell with no eternal substance.

It breaks my heart.

And that’s why I keep writing.

Because she needs Jesus.

Because I hope my life and my scars and this blog are the arrows God uses to point her—and the many others like her—to Him.

A Shepherd Worth Following

Psalm 23 reminds us of the truth that changes everything:

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1)

Not religion. Not spirituality. The Lord.

Only Jesus leads us beside still waters. Only Jesus restores our souls. Only Jesus walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death. Only Jesus can transform scars into emblems of His grace.

And only Jesus laid down His life so that we could be made right with God—not through our own efforts, but through His blood.

That’s the point.

That’s everything.

Lord, break my heart for those who don’t know You. Let my words, my scars, and my life point to the only truth that matters—the holy and matchless and perfect name of Jesus. Amen.