Covered

My husband’s Great-great grandmother’s rocking chair was passed down through the family and for the last 30-years the chair has sat unused, but on display, in my mother in-law’s living room. “We brought it from Oklahoma and left it as it was. I never did anything to it.” When the chair came into my house I removed a variety of thin cushions that were 10 layers deep…cushions of feathers, foam and quilted throws. When I finally got to the original seat of the chair the webbing was stretched and concave leaving one to sink well below the frame. Next I began removing layers of fabric from the back of the chair that had accumulated over the years. Each new layer had been carefully safety pinned to the old layer and the layers included a bath towel, a curtain and a thin quilt. The last two coverings of cotton and upholstery material literally disintegrated in my hands as I removed the pins. I’m reminded of the Old Testament sacrifices which had to be offered over and over and over again. In essence the burnt and sin offering sacrifices covered, but could not remove sin. As Christians we are made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ. The writer of Hebrews said, “Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself” (Heb 7:26-27 NIV).