No one who conceals transgressions will prosper, but one who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
Proverbs 28:13 (NRSV)

You’ve just learned that your in-laws or friends are coming for a visit and you have been very busy and have not had time to houseclean and tidy up. But there are quick hiding places that no one except only the most curious and nosy of inspectors would check out. These hiding places are: closets, drawers, and underneath the beds.

The time is passing quickly and your in-laws or friends will soon arrive. You begin the accelerated clean up by stuffing things in the closets, cramming other things in the drawers, and lastly shoving other things under the beds. Your in-laws or friends arrive and enjoy their visit. They leave and you, like Scarlett O’Hara, will think about “all those things” in the closets, drawers and beneath the bed TOMORROW. “After all, tomorrow is another day!” Somehow tomorrow never comes, but every time you look in the closets, drawers, and beneath the bed, there are all of those other things staring you in the face. Finally, you reach the point where you can’t stand it! They were good hiding places for awhile, but now every time you look at any one of them you are confronted with the clutter! Something has to be done and that something is going through the clutter … the things from all of those hiding places!

Concealing our transgressions is just as unproductive as concealing those things in closets, drawers, and beneath the beds. I just mentioned what the solution is to the clutter. Rather than attempting to hide our transgressions from God, as if we could, we need to confess our sins and to forsake those behaviors, thoughts, and words that alienate us from God, our brothers, and our sisters. In response to these actions, God will grant us mercy. That’s a wonderful gift God gives us and all we need to do to receive it is to confess our sins and to forsake them.

Prayer

Thank You, Lord, for granting us mercy … for not giving us what we deserve. Help us always to confess our sins and to forsake them so that we may receive that precious gift You wish to bestow on us. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.