Confess & Forsake!

Prov.28:13 “People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy” [with emphasis].

Peter was going to go home a sad man, without food for his family that day because he had tried all night but did not catch any fish. Jesus did not have to be kind to Peter and Jesus did not have to promote Peter. But because of Jesus’ kindness, Peter knelt in repentance before Him. Jesus never turns away anybody that comes to Him in repentance. Jesus has never turned anyone back because their sin was too great or because they had done too many bad things. I may not know what you have done but trust me, there are people that have done worse things and they found mercy. You will find mercy also.

The challenge is that people do a lot of confessing but they hardly really repent of their sins. Someone goes to God to express how sorry she is for doing A. Then she goes right back to do A again then comes back to confess and the cycle continues. She says, “But God You said if we confess our sins You will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I confess that I did A”. And then she goes back to do A again. You are only making a mockery of yourself. God is not mocked when you confess without forsaking.

Is there anything wrong with confession? From this Scripture, we see that confession is actually good and it is the first step in repentance. In truth, confession is acknowledging that sin exists. It is important that we confess. 1 John 1:9 [KJV] “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” [with emphasis]…  “turn from them…” is the second step in repentance and that is the actual repentance. Repentance is confessing and forsaking. To repent is to change your mind and change your direction. It is to turn around.

I had to send someone to the altar once to sit with God until God says he is fine. He stayed there for hours, slept and woke up but eventually God spoke to him. He said he had previously felt like a slave but when he got up, that compulsion to sin was gone. Free! He could face the same sin and decline. What was the difference? He did not have power over sin because he did not repent.

Prayer: Father, empower me by Your Spirit even as I take a stand for right living, in Jesus Name. Amen!