February 4, 2008

Graphic by MamaBear

From The Not So Blue

Somedays, like a bolt from the blue, or from the not so blue,
You’re struck by something powerful, something that is true.
Unassailable recognition, of power and of strength,
That tends to tilt the world you view, and makes you think at length.

What is the purpose of our lives? What do we struggle for?
Do we wander an aimless thicket, or is there a Golden Door?
You can be sitting at a desk, or riding in a car,
When suddenly you’re somewhere else, though you haven’t gone so far.

Epiphanies can happen. They do not have to hurt.
You think you’re full of love for life, and then you have dessert!
Our lives are a rich conundrum, some things we know or guess,
But when you get a chance for a gift from on high, you should always answer Yes!

NicknamedBob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . May 20, 2005

February 4, 2008

Unlocking The Gate

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READ: Numbers 5:5-8

When a man or woman commits any sin . . . against the Lord, . . . then he shall confess the sin which he has committed. —Numbers 5:6-7

Researchers at the University of Toronto reported in 2006 that people who are suffering from a guilty conscience experience “a powerful urge to wash themselves.” To study this effect, the researchers asked volunteers to recall past sins. They were then given an opportunity to wash their hands as a symbol of cleansing their conscience. Those who had recalled their sins washed their hands at “twice the rate of study subjects who had not imagined past transgressions.”

The Bible proposes the only effective way of dealing with sin—confession. In the Old Testament, one of the ways the Israelites were supposed to cleanse themselves and maintain purity before God and in their community was by confessing their sins (Num. 5:5-8). To confess means “to speak the same; to agree with; to admit the truth.” When the people confessed to God, they were not telling Him anything He did not already know. But their confession was a demonstration of a change of heart. Refusing to confess their sins allowed sin to take deeper root within their lives and community.

Admitting our sin unlocks the gate so that we can have forgiveness, joy, and peace. If we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive (1 John 1:9).

If we would know God’s power to heal
And cleanse us from within,
We must acknowledge when we’re wrong—
Confessing it as sin. —Fasick

Confession is agreeing with God about our sin.

Bible in One Year: Exodus 22–24; Proverbs 12:15-28