Confession: We Confess to Live
Scripture Reading — Psalm 32
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.
James 5:16
Tomorrow is Sunday, the customary day of Christian worship.
How do you prepare for Sunday worship?
Have you ever thought of preparing for worship by using the discipline of confession?
Whether you?re young or old, a Saturday-night party-goer or a stay-at-homer, think seriously about confessing your sin.
In earlier meditations we learned that the discipline of silence helps us focus on God. But in Psalm 32:3-4 David shows that silence can work against the discipline of confession.
Silence in the presence of sin can bring our guilt to weigh heavily on us, sapping our strength and aching our bones.
As James urges, one of the Christian faith?s most powerful and effective disciplines is to confess sin to a trusted friend.
God is always there, of course, but God often prefers to relate to us through our friends and others in the Christian community. We need other people to keep us honest with ourselves, with each other, and with the Lord our God.
If you want to learn the discipline of confession, you have to practice it.
?LORD, my petition heed, now help me in my need, or else I die. I am your servant, LORD; my trust is in your word. Mercy to me accord; to you I cry.? In Jesus? name, Amen.
About the author — James and Rose Dekker
James C. Dekker is the pastor of Covenant Christian Reformed Church in St. Catharines, Ontario. Previously he served other congregations in Alberta and Ontario. Rose Dekker serves as a refugee coordinator for the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee in Canada. She also serves as a certified spiritual director. The Dekkers were missionaries for nine years with Christian Reformed World Missions, serving in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Venezuela, and Cuba.
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