Grab n Go
We got a good laugh the other night when our 15-month-old grandson was closing in on a basket of chips. His mother called his name and told him, “No, no.” He did not move away from the chips so she started to move toward him. He grabbed a chip as fast as he could and ran across the room. It was if he thought if he could get out of the way fast enough, she wouldn’t know he had the chip.
It was funny to watch but it reminded me of how we respond to God sometimes. I can even see myself in him! I am not nearly as deliberate and I can usually control my sin in a room full of people, what would they think, after all? But, certainly God has warned me to back off and I have taken the next step, not listening to what He has said. This is especially true with food going into my mouth and words that come out of my mouth- they can be too many sometimes.
One night at the dinner table a word came out of my mouth that hasn’t crossed my lips in years. Where did that come from and why did it come? In God’s grace He allowed me to hear it loud and clear as it came out and I was immediately convicted. I wanted to blame Satan or the discomfort I was talking about for “making” me do it. Unfortunately, blame who I will, it was I who needed to confess it and I knew it right on the spot.
1 John 1:9 says that “if we confess our sin God is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” At the sound of my sin I was immediately not just sorry but repentant, I wanted to turn from that sin and not do it again and in my heart I told God so. Then He reminded me that He is good, forgiving and abounding in steadfast love. I was relieved by those promises and God’s character that made me sure that God keeps His promises.
There are also those times when I get confronted or even rebuked for a sin and I am not repentant. I am sorry I got caught at it, but I don’t immediately want to turn from it. This usually happens when I feel perfectly justified in my own anger or unforgiveness. The Lord uses that same kind of rebuke that He did last night so that I see it as sin. But, sometimes I’m not ready to give it up. My hurt feelings or my wounded pride, usually are at the root of any hurt feelings for me. The problem with this response (or lack of one) is that I am compounding my sin. Now I have the anger or unforgiveness, then I pile on pride and to that I add on unbelief and a failure to repent.
You see, God doesn’t want me to just recognize my sin, but to confess it and turn from it (repent). If all we do is acknowledge our sin but we fail to confess it we are living in pride, unwilling to admit that it was actually a sin against God.
Psalm 84:5 says, “For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.” As I read this verse I am reminded of the words of a song quoting another verse that says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end.” (Lamentations 3:22, ESV). Put the two together and I see that God’s mercy in the forgiveness of my sins never ceases. What a relief because I never seem to come to the end of my sin! I find that what I teach about one day I’m rebelling against the next – but never thoughtfully or intentionally; I don’t want to sin.
Do you believe that God is good, forgiving, and that He steadfastly loves you? He went to great pain in sending His Son to take our sin – every sin. This is a statement of His steadfast love. Christ died for our sin, took the punishment that belonged to us. According to 1 John 1:9 He doesn’t just forgive the sin, He cleanses us from all unrighteousness. No wonder confession is good for the soul!
If we ever want to be reminded of our own sin nature – watch a toddler with a bowl of chips his mother has forbidden him to have. She scolds him and within seconds he is back in her arms being loved. When we repent of the words and deeds we say and do that so dishonor God, we too, can be back in His loving arms within seconds.