3-6-2015

Good Morning All,

         Psalm 32:5; “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

      A small group of preteen boys were huddled and engaged in an intense discussion.  One of them had thrown a baseball and broke a window.  Some wanted to just run away; some advised telling the owner and offering to fix the window.  The discussion was pretty intense but had a common theme- fear.  The ones who voted to just run away were afraid of getting in trouble for breaking the window.  The ones who voted to tell the owner were afraid of greater punishment for not telling.  Their logic was that, eventually, they would get caught and be punished more severely for lying and trying to hide the truth. 

    So when you approach a confession of sins; do you do so from an attitude of fear?  Do you speak the confession of sins because you are afraid that God will find out later and then really punish you?  Many do; many think that confession of sins to God is telling God, “I know you don’t know this but this is what I have done.”  This is a human view of confession; it is not how God views it.  God views it as a way to relief pain; we should as well.

    The first thing we need to know is that God knows everything.  When you confess your sins to Him, you are not telling him something that he doesn’t already know.  Confession is not about informing God or giving him so new information.  Confession is not about making God fee; better; confession is about relieving our guilt and brightening our soul.

    Confession is about ridding the guilt of our sin and laying it at God’s altar.  You may even think of it as carrying out the garbage.  When you feel that you have some sins that are just too great to confess or that you feel are just unforgiveable, you simply are keeping garbage that you do not need.  This excess garbage is used by the devil to cause you guilt; guilt about sins that God has already forgiven.  So confession can be seen as you and I going to God and saying, “Dear Father, I am tired of carrying this garbage around.  It stinks and it weighs me down; please take it from me.”  The wondrous love of God means he will take it and throw it away for us.

   So we do not need to view confession with fear; rather we can approach it as God defines it; as a way to free ourself from pain and sorrow.  It is a way to relieve our heart of guilt and to give our souls peaceful rest.

Gracious Father, you cleanse me of my sin and I am whiter than snow.  With your great mercy, I have peace in this life and the hope of life eternal with you.  Keep me safe in your loving arms.  Strengthen me so that I do not fall for the devil’s lies.  Be with those who are struggling against his lies at this time.  Free them from his voice.  Give your Spirit to them so that they may clearly hear your voice.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret