Bring it into the Open

1 Timothy 5:24 (MSG)
The sins of some people are blatant and march them right into court. The sins of others don't show up until much later. The same with good deeds. Some you see right off, but none are hidden forever. 

Many of our sins are against God and against local law. These sins are obvious to everyone around us and will get us into legal trouble as well as grieving the heart of God. These sins might make the headlines in our local news, causing our neighbors to shun us.

Our actions bring public shame on us and our families. They taint our reputation and could have long-lasting repercussions.

Our credit could be affected, thereby impeding our ability to buy property. Privileges like voting or driving could be revoked. These obvious sins that are out there for the world to see and judge us by cause lots of problems; for us and those who love us.

But, there are other grievous sins which aren't obvious to the world. Evil lurks in some hearts and is concealed from the world. Given all the happenings we view on the evening news lately, we understand and recognize blatant transgressions, but there is also another element, the hidden sins.

Those sins we commit in our heart: lust, covetousness, gluttony and so on, the world does not see, but God does. These indiscretions can become habit and quickly a part of our daily routine. If not checked, they can change our character, turn us into someone we don't recognize; it can happen quickly.

Principle 7 in Celebrate Recovery, the Christian 12-Step program says for us to, "Reserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading and prayer, in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will."

Each day or night let's take time to examine ourselves, our hearts and our motives and spend time in our Bibles reading and praying. See if things don't change, see if we don't feel God's presence in every waking moment; enabling us to recognize a hidden sin and step away from it.

1 Timothy 5

Check out Celebrate Recovery here.

Take a Daily Inventory

Acts 2:37-41 (NIV)  When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"  Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call."  With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation."  Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

We all have those things we don't want to think about. We have memories of days when our behavior left something to be desired. In fact we may even recall things we would rather forget about completely. I think it is just such a moment the people Peter was addressing were feeling. Peter reminded them they had just crucified Jesus, their LORD and Christ. (Acts 2:36)

The reality of their deeds was sinking in and they were feeling guilt and fear wash over them. Their response was, "Brothers, what shall we do?" How can we make this wrong, right? Have you ever been there? Did you ever wake up one morning with a conscience so covered with guilt you just wanted to dig a hole and crawl in?

What a freeing moment it is when we learn God can make it right. How light our spirits can be once we hear the words, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins." These words must have made an impact on the crowd that day for about three thousand accepted the message and were baptized. Can I hear an AMEN?

Each one of us has the same opportunity. Each of us can hand over all our guilt and shame; we can turn from our sins and repent, knowing there is forgiveness. Imagine how good we will sleep when we regularly take an inventory of the day just lived, determine where mistakes were made and confess to God. Then when we wake in the morning we will awaken to a new day.

Acts 2:37-41