Day 7 – Issue 20

Be Still Know

Psalm 36:2 NLT

‘In their blind conceit, they cannot see how wicked they really are.’

I’m not sure if my recurring nightmare is experienced by you, but I scare myself sometimes by imagining standing before God and all my hidden sins are being projected onto a large screen for all to see. I choose to disguise my sin and keep it away from public scrutiny. In fact, I go further and present as someone who has managing sin down to a fine art. I’m no murderer or thief, yet when considering Jesus’ redefinition throughout the Gospels I realise I am as guilty as any of them.

I like to flatter myself that I am one of the righteous, those who have no major sin to confess, and therefore one of the true friends of God. I can easily point the finger and judge how sinful I see others to be. Yet, God does not appear to differentiate sins by some benchmark value system. Sin is simply sin. This is because sin’s about the injury it does to God’s friendship with us.

Of course, when I do choose to differentiate sin by value, I gamble on the fact that my own internal sin can be kept from public scrutiny and will not be found out. At this point, like the scribes and Pharisees before me, I become a hypocrite prepared to show up as someone immune from sin. It’s little wonder that people assume God cannot love them, for all the people claiming to be loved appear untouched by sin and in a league of their own.

I know when I am approaching God with a fresh degree of integrity – it is when I’m prepared to expose the inner recesses of my secret sin cupboard to the light of God’s forgiveness and grace.

QUESTION: Do you have an internal values system that you apply to sin?

PRAYER: Holy God, you see every thought, word and deed and the things left unsaid or done. Let me live honestly in your sight.