“And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:11-12,14). Many of us have felt so keenly the pain our sins have caused to not just ourselves but more importantly to our Savior, that we feel that the only just and noble and right thing to do is to throw ourselves body and soul upon the altar of sacrifice and die the martyr’s death. Not literally, perhaps, but we feel that making the sacrifice to punish ourselves and just pile shame on top of guilt and hatred on top disappointment will be of some use. But even if we rake ourselves over the coals every single day without fail and are tireless and ever vigilant in ensuring that no incidental peace or accidental happiness will disturb our self-imposed misery, these sacrifices will never take away a single one of our sins. Like Lady Macbeth, we may become so obsessed with washing the blood off of our hands that the blood never goes away because we've rubbed the skin raw and now it's cracked and bleeding all the time. Jesus Christ sacrificed one time for all of our sins. We do not need to make our own sacrifices daily in an effort to take away our sins. Our sacrifices do not work. Only Jesus Christ's sacrifice can take away our sins and perfect and sanctify us. The sacrifice that we must make is to surrender any sense of independence or vanity or pride that we must be the ones ourselves to clean up our own messes with no help from anyone else. Becoming free from sin is not in our power, except insofar as we use our agency to accept and apply the Sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ. That is why it is called the Atonement. He brings all of the necessary sacrifices into One ultimate and infinite sacrifice. Let us lay our sacrifices at His feet and do His will, even and especially if His will is that we accept forgiveness for our sins and cease to condemn and punish ourselves and allow ourselves to feel the peace and joy that He has prepared for us.
