Increased Awareness Of Sin
Are you aware of your sin and troubled by it? Or are you unconcerned about it? The closer we get to the Lord, the more light we have and the more we understand the enormity of our sin and the more we will confess and forsake it. There were many things in my life that I did not even know were sins before I was saved and even in the first years after I was saved. As we grow in the Lord, we learn that our sins are many, the more guilt we are aware of and the more grateful and joyful we are when He forgives us. For a mature Christian the joy of forgiveness becomes greater and the sorrow over his sin also becomes greater. The joy is worth the sorrow. We cannot get the joy without the sorrow. The greater the sorrow the greater the joy. When we reach Heaven, we shall have joy without sorrow.
Luke 7:47: Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
Romans 7:24: O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
I don*t believe Paul knew how wretched he was until he had been saved for quite some time and I believe that the longer we walk with the Lord and the more mature we become as believers, the more we know that in our flesh we are wretched too.
This devotional entitled We Confess; God Covers was written by Evangelist Wil Rice.
Have you ever noticed that the most evil and self-centered people in this world seem to be the ones who are least aware that they are evil or that they have need of God*s mercy? And have you ever noticed that the people who seem to be the most in tune with God are also most aware of their own shortcomings, sin, and need for God? There seems to be a converse relationship between how good someone views himself to be and how much virtue he actually possesses.
Take David. If you read the psalms, David is forever asking God for mercy. How could such a good man need so much mercy? Well, David was a man with sin. He sinned a lot. The more you think about it, the more you realize that David was guilty of some colossal sins. But then again, you and I have both been guilty of more than we care to admit, as well.
Here is the strange thing: God covers the sins we confess, and God knows the sins we cover. Psalm 32:1 says, *Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.* That is something we can*t do. We attempt it, but God is the only One Who can actually cover a sin. The psalm continues, *Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.*
Then David gives a personal testimony. He says *When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long, for day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.* So both within and without, David was like a desert because he was covering his sins. Well, God knew them.
Verse 5 shows us where there was a change. David says, *I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and my iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.* Think about that!
Then he says, in verse 7, *Thou art my hiding place.* It is not just that God covers the sins that we confess. God Himself is our hiding place and cover. God does not give mercy to those who are good. Those who are good don*t see their need and never seek for God*s mercy. God gives mercy to those who are humble. He gives mercy to those who are honest, see themselves as they are, and see God for Who He is, a God Who is able to cover when we confess.
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