Are you hurting and broken within? Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin? Jesus is calling. Have you come to the end of yourself? Do you thirst for a drink from the well? Jesus is calling. Leave behind your regrets and mistakes. Come today, there’s no reason to wait. Jesus is calling. Bring your sorrows and trade them for joy. From the ashes a new life is born. Jesus is calling.Are you hurting and broken withinYou know that feeling you get when you’ve mess up and hope someone doesn’t find out…your parents, a spouse, an employer, coworker, pastor, friend? What does it do to your relationship with that person? As long as we don’t fess up, there’s an uncomfortableness in the relationship. You might try to avoid that person or if they find out, you might not be able to face them. The “funny thing” is we usually don’t want to tell because we’re worried about breaking the relationship. Depending on the offense, confessing what we did could very well break the relationship…sometimes beyond repair without the healing and grace that only God can bring. Thankfully, confessing our wrongs to God comes with a guarantee of forgiveness and refreshment.
When we sin and don’t confess that sin, our relationship with God broken, just as it is with other people. However, unlike with people, the Bible tells us that “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). In Acts 3:19, Paul wrote, “Therefore, repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Here’s another “funny thing” ….we hold on to our sin and try to hide it from God, but there is nothing we can hide from Him…so why not repent and confess it especially when we are guaranteed “times of refreshing” will follow? King David knew what it meant to mess up. This is a man that committed adultery. He then tried to cover it up when she became pregnant. When that didn’t work, he had her husband sent to the front line of battle…a sure way to have a man killed without looking guilty, but God knew David’s heart. Even though David messed up big time, the Bible calls David “a man after God’s own heart.” Why? Because even though He sinned, He was also, humble, reverent, respectful. He trusted God and loved Him whole-heartedly. He was devoted, faithful and obedient. And when He messed up, he was repentant. In Psalm 51.1-2, we see his cry to God:
Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your loving-kindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin
It is the Holy Spirit’s job to prick our hearts, letting us know we’ve messed up. Our sin may have caused a rift in our relationship with God, but His love for us is unconditional and there is no sin so great that he cannot forgive. Once the Holy Spirit draws our attention to sin in our lives, we then have the choice the be stubborn and hold on to the sin thinking that it gives us pleasure while living a miserable life or we can fall on our knees and repent and return the God that loves us with an everlasting love and experience joy and peace as He forgives us.
What sin have you been holding on to that God is waiting to forgive? The pleasure you think it brings is nothing more than a lie from Satan himself. He wants to rob you of the joy you experience in Christ and he wants to ruin your testimony so that others are not drawn to Christ through your life. Maybe David’s sins of adultery and murder are not an issue for you. How about an untruth…or partial truth? What about idolatry (giving things or people a greater importance that God)? What about the language you use? Maybe you are in a sexual relationship outside of marriage. How about the way you treat your wife, husband or kids?
Are you hurting and broken within? Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin? Jesus is calling. Have you come to the end of yourself? Do you thirst for a drink from the well? Jesus is calling. Leave behind your regrets and mistakes. Come today, there’s no reason to wait. Jesus is calling. Bring your sorrows and trade them for joy. From the ashes a new life is born. Jesus is calling. If you are feeling like your relationship with God is not what it once was, then perhaps it’s time to come to the altar and pray as David did in Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Then take time to sit quietly before God and just Be Still. God knows your ways. Plunge in the rivers of His grace. Allow Him to reveal to you the areas that you need to confess. As He reveals them, confess them immediately and accept His forgiveness. Then the times of refreshing will come as you spend time in His presence, resting in the arms of His embrace.
