Monday, September 21, 2015
Proverbs 28:13 He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
LESSONS FOR THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR ... FROM PROVERBS (1)
When I was growing up, there were two parental phrases that struck fear and anxiety into our hearts. The first was "grab your ankles." The second was "clean your room."
On one occasion when we were told to clean our room we simply pushed everything under the bed. We hid the mess. We learned the hard way that it's better to clean up the mess rather than try to hide it.
In a far more serious matter, it's dangerous to try and hide our sins. Why would we want to cover up our sins anyway? We don't want to keep them around, do we?
Why would we? Our sins turn God’s face from us. Our sins separate us from God. The LORD God warned His wayward people through the Prophet Isaiah (59:2): " ... your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear."
While there is great danger in concealing our sins, there is great joy in making them known and forsaking them.
The LORD wants us to acknowledge to ourselves and to Him that we have sinned, for it is written for us (Psalm 32:5): "I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,' and You forgave the iniquity of my sin."
We can't live with our sins, and we can't remove them -- but in Christ they are removed from us. For it is written (1 John 1:8-9): "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
