Keeping Secrets
Scripture Reading — 1 John 1:5-10
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us…
1 John 1:9
As I write this, I’ve just learned that another of the FBI’s Most Wanted was captured yesterday. Maybe it was because of media attention, or maybe it was because of the Internet. It seems that more and more criminals are caught nowadays because of these tools. Some insiders, though, give another reason: the fugitives are just tired of hiding.
We all have secrets, but it is hard to hide them for long. We take precautions and steps so that we won’t slip the word out, but that puts a lot of stress on us. That is also why we hear so much talk about deathbed confessions; people want to die in peace.
Adam and Eve thought they could hide from God. But God called out, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). Of course, God knew where they were; God was just trying to help them realize how much they had strayed from their Creator. Hebrews 4:13 says, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.”
Are you hiding from God? Are there unconfessed sins keeping you away? Come to God and say,
Search me, O God, and know my heart today;
Try me, O Savior; know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free.
With God, you can find peace and happiness today.
All knowing God, we confess that we have sinned against you. Help us to live in a way so that we don’t have to hide from you. In the name of our Savior we pray. Amen.
About the author — Jimmy Tai-On Lin
Rev. Jimmy Lin is the Chinese ministry leader of The Back to God Hour. With his staff in Palos Heights and Hong Kong, Rev. Lin has ministered to over 1.3 billion Chinese-speaking people around the world for 16 years through radio, literature, CD/DVD, Internet, and text message. His wife, Doris, is one of the translators of Today into the Chinese language, which now has a circulation of more than 45,000 copies.
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