Monday Reading: Proverbs 28:13
Key Verse: Proverbs 28:13
13 He who covers his sins shall not be blessed; but whoever confesses and leaves them shall have mercy.
Devotion:
We all know that stealing is wrong. We all know that if someone else has paid for something, then taking that without consent is wrong. Even the law of the land will tell you that it is wrong. So let us think about something that has been paid for and that everyone steals a bit of every day. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to come to earth and pay for our sin debt. He paid for it in full by laying down His own life when He Himself had not sinned. So each time we sin without acknowledging that Christ has died for that sin, we are stealing some of what Christ paid for. Not so nice when we think of it that way...
Key Verse: Proverbs 28:13
13 He who covers his sins shall not be blessed; but whoever confesses and leaves them shall have mercy.
Devotion:
We all know that stealing is wrong. We all know that if someone else has paid for something, then taking that without consent is wrong. Even the law of the land will tell you that it is wrong. So let us think about something that has been paid for and that everyone steals a bit of every day. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to come to earth and pay for our sin debt. He paid for it in full by laying down His own life when He Himself had not sinned. So each time we sin without acknowledging that Christ has died for that sin, we are stealing some of what Christ paid for. Not so nice when we think of it that way...
Each time we sin and cover it up, ignore it or falsely justify it through our own thoughts, we continue to steal from Christ's debt. If you want to be able to help yourself to not sin, then you have to think about how much you are doing to Christ every time you sin. That does not mean that every time we sin that we should shout out to the world about what we have done wrong so everyone can see that we are sorry – that would not be right. We do need to make sure that we apologise for our sins and keep in mind how much Christ has paid for our sins so that we will be encouraged not to do so again. By openly admitting to all of our sins, we may well discourage others or even encourage them to sin as well.
Our conscience will not allow us to cover our sins for too long without allowing us to feel just how wrong we have been. Covering that feeling will build up pride and lust within your spirit and stop you from being close to God. The more we feel bad, the less we want to be seen by God and the more we try to hide. It's silly, but it's true... We need to be open with God because He can already see right through us. Be open about sin and ask Him to help us to defeat it. That way we can live with Him close to our hearts and reap the rewards that that will bring.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you try to cover things up?
How often do you try to cover things up?
How often do you try to hide things from God?