Covering sin

He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. – Proverbs 28v13

There are a couple of aspects to dealing with sin. There are too extremes. One is to be so beaten and defeated by our sin that we give up and let Satan have a victory as the accuser of the brethren.

I am sure that happens, I have seen it and even experienced it.

But there is another extreme that I think is probably much more common. That is to just sort of ignore it and hope it goes away. We sin, feel bad for a while, and then just try to forget it.

Ouch – that hurts. Was that a 2x4 I just got hit with?

Think about it for a second. When we take sin lightly, ignoring it or passing it off as no big deal, what are we doing? What is the cost of sin?

It is the sin that we take so lightly that sent Jesus to the cross. It is the sin that required Jesus to be stripped, beaten, and spat upon. It was the weight of that sin He carried as His bore His cross the Calvary. It as the sin that drove the nails into His flesh. It was the sin that caused Him to be hung naked and shamed for all the world to see. I can't really hide that sin – its cost has already been seen by the whole world.

Is there any wonder why we can't prosper when we try to hide that sin away?

But the good news is that the price has been paid. The work is done. When we confess and forsake the sin and move on. We don't have to pay the price, we just can't afford to take it lightly.