This post is written by a good friend of mine Chris Byrne who pastors at New Friendship Baptist Church in Winston Salem. I admire Chris for his dedication to Jesus. In college, while studying to be a “basketball coach”, God called him into the ministry and he had the courage to respond to that call and go for it. It is a privilege to call him my friend.
Have you ever observed a small child with an odd sense of perspective?
I can remember my sons at around two years old burying their head in their hands so they couldn’t see me and thinking that prevented me from seeing them. If you have children, then you know it was good that I always tried to keep them in sight.
One of our key verses in the text today reminds us how foolish we can be when trying to hide our sin.
v13 “He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy”.
As Christians, we still sometimes find ourselves engaged in sinful patterns or behaviors that are displeasing to the Lord. It is natural to want to present ourselves to the world in the best light possible. When we love our sin and we love our reputation, we will go to great lengths to cover our tracks. (See King David for an example).
According to the Word of God, we become so engaged in the “cover up” that we can not prosper physically because of the toll this anxiety places on our health and we can not prosper financially because our energies become diluted from our work and we can not prosper spiritually because this sin is interfering with our walk with the Lord.
The Holy Spirit here gives us a beautiful contrast to those who would try to hide their sin. As a Christian, God will not allow you to continue to nurse a sinful pattern in your life. His love for you and desire to see you prosper will cause Him to take the necessary steps to to lead you to confess your sin and forsake it.
He promises mercy to those who will seek His forgiveness. To David in Psalm 51 that meant joy, gladness, restoration and effective ministry. He said God could wash him “whiter than snow.” According to 1 John 1:9 confession leads to forgiveness and cleansing.
Trading that which corrupts, kills and destroys for the mercy of a loving heavenly Father seems like an easy choice to me.
What did you see front he text today?
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