Today you should read: 1 John 1:5-10
I have a friend who is a father to four boys and it is so funny to watch his interaction with them. My favorite thing is when they have been up to something they know they are not supposed to be doing. I was recently at his house and a storm was approaching and the boys were playing outside. Naturally, they wanted to stay outside and play in the rain. However, my friend wisely did not want them outside during lighting. So, he instructed them to play in the garage and wait until the lightning stopped. It was not long until we saw one of the boys run past one of the windows in the middle of the rain.
What is funny about this whole scenario is the boys didn’t think through the fact that their dad could see them from the house. Also, they didn’t consider the fact that they would be soaking wet which would give away their disobedience. So, the only logical next move would be to come into the house and confess their sin and ask for forgiveness right? Well that was not what happened next. Instead, they came up with some reasoning and excuses for why they needed to go out into the rain storm.
What is interesting to me is that my friend had a strong feeling that his boys might end up getting into trouble. What the boys didn’t know was that their father wasn’t that upset at first. It was their deceit that really did them in. John is pointing out this same principal with us as God’s children. God knows and expects that we will have sin in our life. As a matter of fact our passage today says that if we walk in the light our sin will be exposed more. However, our deceitful ways of trying to hide our sin is what causes us to be separated from God.
Jesus died because we cannot cleanse ourselves. That is why John says if we deny that we have sin then we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. To deny that we do not have sin is to deny the need for Jesus. God already is very aware of our sin and our filth. However, if we are in the light then we are aware of our sin and we are invited to be honest about our sin through Jesus. It is in our honesty that cleansing comes and therefore freedom comes as well.
What sin in your life are you hiding? What do you need to be honest before God about?
Posted by: Chad Wiles
JumpstartCPC.com 