Today's Journey
http://getmorestrength.org
May 25,2012
“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I
said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’—and you forgave the
guilt of my sin” Psalm 32:5
A
seriously disturbing commercial made its way to TV sets across America
recently. The ad begins with a chauffeur opening the door of a stretch
limousine for a woman who is dressed for a night on the town. As the
limousine cruises to the airport, the driver looks back and tries to
make conversation with the woman, who appears to be attempting to seduce
him. As they continue along, the divider window in the car goes up and
the camera cuts away to a shot of the car pulling up to the curb, where
the driver gets out and opens the back door for his passenger. She
climbs out of the car, hair neatly pinned up, dressed in a business
suit, chatting away on her cell phone. While on the phone she leans in
for one last flirtation with the puzzled driver, and then continues off
to catch her flight. The commercial fades to the tag line: “What happens
here stays here. Las Vegas.”
The message is obvious. Las Vegas is
a place where you can pursue your lust and greed with abandon, somehow
disconnecting it from the rest of your life and hiding it from friends
and family. Check your morals at the door and revel in unbridled
freedom. No guilt, no fear, no consequences. It is, they claim, an adult
playground, existing solely for your indulgence and amusement, where
your secrets are kept.
Before you start taking the bait “hook,
line, and sinker” you need to know that what you do in Las Vegas—or
anywhere else for that matter—doesn’t stay there. What you do is a part of you, and you’ll take it all home with you!
The
words of King David provide ample warning for us. I would suspect that,
with much of his kingdom away in battle, David assumed that “What
happens in the palace stays in the palace.”
However, his secret fling
with Bathsheba was exposed all too quickly with the expanding signs of
her pregnancy. His attempts to cover his tracks led him to one desperate
scheme after another. Yet in the end, with the blood of Bathsheba’s
husband, Uriah, on his hands, he found himself face to face with the
prophet Nathan and the consequences of his sin exposed to all. His reign
and service to the Lord would forever be marked by that tragic moment
in his life.
More tellingly, Psalm 32:1-11
records that, even before the sin was publicly exposed, the pangs of
David’s conscience kept him in anguish. “When I kept silent,” he writes,
“my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and
night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat
of summer” (Psalm 32:3-4).
He didn’t leave his sin with Bathsheba behind in the bed of adultery;
he was crushed by the guilt and shame that he carried with him.
When
we choose to sin, we do not leave the sin behind without a trace. If
you belong to God, the indwelling Holy Spirit will sound the alarm. And
though no one knows, we will be haunted by the fear of discovery and the
loss of self worth. As Scripture says, “You may be sure that your sin
will find you out” (Numbers 32:23)!
So
join King David. Know the joy of being done with the cover-ups and
finished with the secrets. Genuine confession before our loving and
forgiving God will trigger His grace and forgiveness and will enable you
to leave Sin City far, far behind!
YOUR JOURNEY…
- Did the Holy Spirit spotlight any area of your life that needs to be brought into the light? Go before the Lord in genuine, heartfelt confession, acknowledging your need of His forgiveness.
- What other lies does Satan try to feed us to convince us that sinning is worth the toll that it takes on our lives?
- How can time in God’s Word and in prayer help us to more quickly recognize areas of sin and struggle in our lives?
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