By David ReayFriday 26 Aug 2016LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Read Proverbs 28:13
13 People who conceal their sins will not prosper,
but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy. (NLT)
Some of us make a habit of hiding from God. We figure that our secret sins are really secret. We figure that if we can only immerse ourselves in sufficient activity, even church-type activity, that will get us off the hook. In this, we imitate those first humans who hid from God in the garden, realising their physical and moral nakedness.
God found them out, and our God still wanders around the places we hide and searches us out. He bids us come out of hiding and face facts. We need help, we need mercy. We don’t get help or mercy by running away from it.
This reminds us of the essence of Christian confession. We confess our sins not in order to feel terrible about ourselves or cop our punishment from God. Confession is not meant to plunge us into shame; it is meant to drive us to the grace of God. And when we confess, we realise that Jesus has copped our punishment on the cross. So nothing to fear there.
God knows all our secrets. We can’t hide from him. What makes this a blessing and not a curse is that when we let ourselves be found by him we come face to face with mercy rather than terror, grace rather than shame. The only safe hiding place is in his all-embracing arms of grace.
Blessings
David Reay