He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. Proverbs 28:13 (NKJV)
Have you ever had a closet or storage cupboard you used for a virtual catchall for stuff you knew you should have dealt with and given up? You know what I am talking about; it’s that certain place where you stuff things temporarily, but you never seem to get back and properly deal with them. I have a couple of these cupboards in my garage, and they are filled with things I am just not willing to part with, but they need to go.
I think we can be prone to have a catchall for sin in our life as well. There are a lot of preachers who won’t discuss sin all that much within their messages because it can make those who listen tend to feel real uncomfortable. It becomes a ministry of people pleasing rather than simply teaching the Word of God. The problem with this view is it is not biblical. God gave us an abundance of Scripture to deal with the subject of sin—both in the life of the unsaved, as well as in the life of the believer.
We are told, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Prov. 28:13). The word forsakes used here in this verse means to “Abandon,” to “Renounce,” or to “Give up.” So to properly deal with our sin, we must first confess it for what it is. This is to simply come into agreement with what God says about it. But then we must turn from it and stop doing it. As we confess our sins with a proper heart we can be guaranteed of God’s cleansing of it.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (NKJV)
Could it be that we have taken certain things in our life—sinful things—and simply chosen to put them in our spiritual catchall? Could it be we have simply chosen not to deal with these issues until a later time, but if we are to be honest there are some we have never really gotten back to?
I know God wants us to be aware of our sin, because He wants us to deal with these issues—anything else is an improper covering. He knows the damage sin can do in our own Christian walk, and in the lives of others—our sin mocks our witness and us.
Hey, maybe you can identify with a bunch of little stuff, or just one or two big ones in your junk catchall cupboard—things needing to be cleaned out. Maybe you are saying to yourself, “I know its there, but I just can’t deal with it now,” or “I’m not strong enough, I’ve tried several times but I keep on failing.”
I want to encourage you to meditate upon these things today. Let’s choose to allow God to clean out our dirty closets. Let’s acknowledge we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us and choose to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (Phil. 4:13; Eph. 6:10).
STUDY QUESTION: According to the Scriptures contained in this devotional, what can we learn with respect to the sin in our lives and how we are to deal with it?
PERSONAL INVENTORY: Are you willing to allow God to clean out anything in your life you know to be sinful?
APPLICATION: Let’s seek the mercy of God by confessing any sin we may have in our lives. Let’s choose to turn from it, and ask the Lord to give us His strength to overcome the temptation of the evil one.
Have you ever had a closet or storage cupboard you used for a virtual catchall for stuff you knew you should have dealt with and given up? You know what I am talking about; it’s that certain place where you stuff things temporarily, but you never seem to get back and properly deal with them. I have a couple of these cupboards in my garage, and they are filled with things I am just not willing to part with, but they need to go.
I think we can be prone to have a catchall for sin in our life as well. There are a lot of preachers who won’t discuss sin all that much within their messages because it can make those who listen tend to feel real uncomfortable. It becomes a ministry of people pleasing rather than simply teaching the Word of God. The problem with this view is it is not biblical. God gave us an abundance of Scripture to deal with the subject of sin—both in the life of the unsaved, as well as in the life of the believer.
We are told, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Prov. 28:13). The word forsakes used here in this verse means to “Abandon,” to “Renounce,” or to “Give up.” So to properly deal with our sin, we must first confess it for what it is. This is to simply come into agreement with what God says about it. But then we must turn from it and stop doing it. As we confess our sins with a proper heart we can be guaranteed of God’s cleansing of it.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (NKJV)
Could it be that we have taken certain things in our life—sinful things—and simply chosen to put them in our spiritual catchall? Could it be we have simply chosen not to deal with these issues until a later time, but if we are to be honest there are some we have never really gotten back to?
I know God wants us to be aware of our sin, because He wants us to deal with these issues—anything else is an improper covering. He knows the damage sin can do in our own Christian walk, and in the lives of others—our sin mocks our witness and us.
Hey, maybe you can identify with a bunch of little stuff, or just one or two big ones in your junk catchall cupboard—things needing to be cleaned out. Maybe you are saying to yourself, “I know its there, but I just can’t deal with it now,” or “I’m not strong enough, I’ve tried several times but I keep on failing.”
I want to encourage you to meditate upon these things today. Let’s choose to allow God to clean out our dirty closets. Let’s acknowledge we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us and choose to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (Phil. 4:13; Eph. 6:10).
STUDY QUESTION: According to the Scriptures contained in this devotional, what can we learn with respect to the sin in our lives and how we are to deal with it?
PERSONAL INVENTORY: Are you willing to allow God to clean out anything in your life you know to be sinful?
APPLICATION: Let’s seek the mercy of God by confessing any sin we may have in our lives. Let’s choose to turn from it, and ask the Lord to give us His strength to overcome the temptation of the evil one.
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