Daniel 7:1-28
1 John 1:1-10
Psalm 119:153-176
Proverbs 28:23-24
In today's New Testament reading, John might as well have been speaking to Adam and Eve. If you recall, after they sinned, their first instinct was to hide. They were ashamed, they knew they had made themselves unworthy to be in the presence of God.
For all the time that has passed since Adam and Eve first sinned, we aren't all that different from them, are we? How often is it our first instinct when we sin to hide the hide the wrongdoing, to hope no one notices…yet how often are we ashamed we cannot face ourselves, much less others?
The crazy thing is this: when we hide, when we pretend we haven't done anything wrong, we are doing EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE of what God wants us to do. John is pretty clear: "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Think about that: He doesn't expect perfection - He expects us to fail, to sin! Yet all He asks is our honesty, which He rewards with forgiveness and purification.
Father, when inevitably, persistently, we sin, help us to resist the temptation to hide. Rather, help us to boldly come before You and confess our sins, that we might receive the goodness, the mercy, the forgiveness, the purification You have promised.
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