A Season of Hope ~ Preparing Our Hearts for Easter
Acts 3:19
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”
“God removes the sin of the one who makes humble confession, and therebythe devil loses the sovereignty he had gained over the human heart.” ~ Saint Bernard
Let’s be honest, we all sin. But there is no better time to begin afresh than in this season of Lent. We can come to Christ in sincerity, with humble hearts, to turn to Him in repentance, and be refreshed in our walk of faith. The Bible reminds us in 1 John 1:8 that, “If we say, ‘We have no sin,’ we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Because God is entirely good and is Truth, we as followers of Christ cannot straddle the line by accepting the Truth that is in Christ but then follow evil and falsehood, even just a little bit. We have an opportunity to ask God to convict us of sin and then come before a loving God to acknowledge that we have unconfessed sins, willful sins, that have not been brought before Him.
Of course, nothing is hidden from Him and we don’t need to fill in all the details of things He already knows. Often, we are deceived into thinking that one little sin won’t matter to God; He has more important sins that offend Him. The scripture above instructs us to the contrary. We must understand that any sin, large or small, separates us from fellowship with God. Often our sin causes us to hide our faces from Him, resulting in that barrier that stands between God and us. We sense it, we are convicted and our hearts are pricked.
Let’s be clear on one issue, however—Guilt. Remember that the evil one is the one who causes us to feel guilty about something. His tactic is to heap it on with words that are general in nature: “You are a terrible person.” “You haven’t really been forgiven.” “You’ll never be a good person.” God, on the other hand, is very specific when convicting us of sin. He will point out specific things we have done, such as, “Your words were very hurtful to so-in-so.” “That was stealing when you took that item.”
We know that His forgiveness is free, but still acknowledging sin isn’t easy. Sometimes it’s downright hard and painful. Therefore, we require His help to confess and acknowledge that we need to repent—to turn our backs on our sins to not repeat them. We are acknowledging our sense of need, a need for forgiveness and cleansing, a need for renewed relationship and fellowship with our Lord. In loving response, He blesses us with His forgiveness and mercy, and washes us clean again. Just as each of us starts the day cleaned up and fresh for a new day, how much more should we start each day “confessed” up to begin the day in full fellowship with the Lord.
Lord God, I bring my prayer of confession to You now. I repent of my sins and ask that You would hear my heart cry. Forgive me, and extend your mercy and grace. In the name of your merciful Son, Jesus, and for His sake, I pray, Amen.
“If God should please, the Holy Spirit could at this moment make every one of you fall on your knees, confess your sins, and turn to God. He is an Almighty Spirit, able to do wonders.” ~ Charles Spurgeon
