Applying 10 themes of Rosh Hashanah to my daily life! Day 5: The blowing of the Shofar is the chief commandment for the feast of Rosh Hashanah. The bible refers to this day as Yom Teruah which means “the day of the sounding of the shofar.” (Lev. 23:24).
Yesterday we discussed how the shofar blasts remind us that we are engaged in a spiritual battle! Another purpose of the shofar blast is as a wake up call to repentance — turning back to God! These meanings are closely related in that repentance is one of the spiritual weapons of warfare we need to be victorious in the spiritual battle! The first step to repentance is being willing to recognize our strongholds — not as “issues”, not as a part of our “personality” — but as sin! Only when we recognize them as sin do we have the weapons and the hope for true healing! We can then confess our strongholds as sin, forgive others who have wronged us in the past or present, and cancel Satan’s authority in this stronghold area.
True repentance focuses on making OUR part right – dealing with our own strongholds – no matter what the circumstances. We stop blaming others for our sin, and instead of trying to fix others’ strongholds, we turn that responsibility over to God.
In this new year, be willing to ask God to show you the sin in your life, to expose the strongholds in your heart (Ps 51:6; Ps. 139:23-24). Don’t push the snooze button!! Wake up to the shofar’s call to repentance! What will await you is a fresh outpouring of God’s favor, blessing, intimacy, and healing in your life. L’Shanah Tovah! “For a good year!”
