Oh, Happy Day!

Right now it is the middle of the night. I’m awake with jet lag, having just returned to Swaziland from the States. After walking and praying for a while (Lord, please be with the missionaries! lol), I grabbed my Bible and headed to the bathroom where I can turn on the light without waking anyone. I’m loving what I read:

Zechariah 3:4
“See, I have removed your guilt from you, and I will clothe you with splendid robes.”

Context? Joshua, the high priest, was standing before the Lord with satan standing nearby to accuse him. The angel of the Lord rebuked satan. By order of the Lord, Joshua’s excrement-covered clothes were removed and replaced.

Many things about this passage that minister to my spirit.

Before satan spoke a word, he was rebuked. It’s like the angel was saying, “Ah, no, I know what you’re about to say, and the LORD ALMIGHTY says to shut up!”

Joshua was a priest—the high priest—yet his filthy clothes represented his guilt. Perhaps he did some of the things satan was about to accuse him of doing. Sometimes I feel like because I’m already a believer, I need to beat myself up when I sin because I should know better. That’s what the enemy wants me to do. Yet the Lord didn’t do that with Joshua.

The clothes were taken off, and with them the guilt was carried away. God says, “See! All better! No more stinky stains! No more guilt. Here’s a fresh start, too.”

In a few days, much of the world will pause and acknowledge Christ’s death and resurrection, an event the Lord predicted in that same chapter:

Zechariah 3:9
“I will take away the guilt of this land in a single day.”

How HUGE is that?! All of the guilt of the WHOLE WORLD—the sins of every person who has ever lived or will live—wiped away in a single day!

Any guilt we carry around now is completely unnecessary (and a deception the enemy loves) because Jesus paid the whole price. His sacrifice is sufficient. God passionately loves us, which is what drove Him to lay His life down for us. THIS is a reason to celebrate!

I love this because even as I padded into the bathroom tonight, I was dragging around with me some guilt about things I’d said and done recently that I shouldn’t have. I’m afraid I’ve hurt some people. I’d repented, but it didn’t seem to help this antagonizing guilt. Then the Lord reminded me that this guilt-load is not mine to carry. Repent? Yes! Make things right? Yes! Walk with slumped shoulders, carrying a load of guilt? NO!!!

Oh, thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your sacrifice, for loving me enough to do that. I’m so glad You love me. Oh, please help others know Your love too!

Oh, Happy Day, Happy Day!
He washed my sin away!
Oh, Happy Day, Happy Day!
I’ll never be the same;
Forever I am changed!