Pondering Proverbs

The one who conceals their sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy. Proverbs 28:13

We have all heard the saying, "confession is good for the soul." but how and why?

In the washroom of his London club, British newspaper publisher and politician William Beverbrook happened to meet Edward Heath, then a young member of Parliament, about whom Beverbrook had printed an insulting editorial a few days earlier. "My dear chap," said the publisher, embarrassed by the encounter. "I've been thinking it over, and I was wrong. Here and now, I wish to apologise." "Very well," grunted Heath. "But the next time, I wish you'd insult me in the washroom and apologise in your newspaper."  

This is the essence of what this proverb is saying; that hidden wrongs have a habit of festering and causing inner dis-ease. At many a church service following a time of reflexion and confession, the words of assurance for 1 John 1:9 are spoken. Here is how J B Philips paraphrases this verse. ~ "if we freely admit that we have sinned, we find God utterly reliable and straightforward—he forgives our sins and makes us thoroughly clean from all that is evil." 

The choice we all are left with on today is not to justify or defend our sins, but to confess and turn away from them. Renounce them for what the are and tell God about them, even though He already knows.

God loves us and wants to hear from us everyday concerning every issue of life so that He can lead and guide us through His Holy Word and His Holy Spirit. The truth is that in reality, confession is a means of owning up to ourselves, our faults and failings, but doing so in the presence of the Holy One who wills our wholeness.

As Fred Beuchner puts it,"To confess your sins to God is not to tell God anything God doesn't already know. Until you confess them, however, they are the abyss between you. When you confess them, they become the Golden Gate Bridge."

Prayer

Gracious God, our sins are too heavy to carry, too real to hide, and too deep to undo. Forgive what our lips tremble to name, what our hearts can no longer bear, and what has become for us a consuming fire of judgment. Set us free from a past that we cannot change; open to us a future in which we can be changed; and grant us grace to grow more and more in your likeness and image, through Jesus Christ, the light of the world. Amen.