True Confessions
“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
I love court
cases. Especially those of other people.
The reason is that it
combines some of the most fascinating and frustrating aspects of life. Reasoning and relationships. Strategy and argument. Offense and defense. Throw a celebrity into the recipe and you
have a gourmet gathering.
While our system is
grounded in an “innocent until proven guilty” base, honest admissions of
wrongdoing are rarely found. Just
once (and I’m not holding my breath), I’d enjoy applauding the person that
says, “I’m guilty on all counts and deserve to be punished.” Headlines such as these and Haley’s Comet
correspond in frequency.
The problem extends
far beyond court. No matter the age,
race, occupation, or gender, few of us willingly admit we are wrong. It’s generally due to an insidious enemy
known as pride.
In 1 Samuel 15:3,
God gave King Saul a clear mandate, “Now go attack the Amalekites and totally
destroy everything that belongs to them.
DO NOT SPARE THEM. PUT TO DEATH MEN AND WOMEN, CHILDREN AND INFANTS,
CATTLE AND SHEEP, CAMELS AND DONKEYS.”
After Saul
“completed” his task, verse 9 records: “But
Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat
calves and lambs; everything that was good.”
Enters the prophet Samuel to see if Saul will admit his
guilt. Notice the king’s response:
1) He lies about his action: Rather than annihilating Agag and the
Ammonites, as God has commanded, Saul saved the best of the spoils and kept
Agag alive. “The Lord bless you! I have
carried out the Lord’s instructions.” (v. 12-13)
2) He rationalizes his action: When Samuel confronted him with evidence of
his failure, he rationalizes it. “The
soldiers brought them from the Amalekites, they spared the best of the sheep
and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the
rest.” (v. 15)
3) He confesses his action: “Then Saul said to Samuel, ‘I violated the
Lord’s command and your instructions.’ I
was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them. Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back
with me so that I may worship the Lord.” (v. 24-25)
Too little and too late.
Saul would forfeit his kingdom.
Pleading the fifth,
covering our wrongs, distracting the jury, in my work,
in court and life; but “true innocence” comes
to those who confess their hearts to the
Holy Judge, who already knows our hearts.
In His system, I guess you could say we are“innocent when we admit to
ourselves (and to the Lord) we are guilty.”
Terry Risser
Reflections:
1) Why is admitting our sins
hard?
2) What happens when we do?
Copyright 2014- Terry Risser
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