Lent (the season of preparation for Easter) presents you and I with a season to talk to God, find out what needs to be cleaned up in our lives, and to receive the cleaning power of God’s grace anew. For some reason (sin), you and I keep making messes in our lives that just don’t get fixed by self help books or mind games. There are just things that can only be handled by the inside work of God. In the Bible, we see over and over again that sin is the fly in the ointment, the wrench in the gears of the world. The crash course on sin is: even when we aim to do things the right way, we seem to not be able to hit the bulls eye of God’s perfect will. Jesus forgives our bad aim and then the Holy Spirit starts adjusting our actions so we can start getting on target with our lives.
A large obstacle to us experiencing the freeing power of God in our lives is we do not like to admit we messed up. Pride (itself a sin) convinces us we do not mess up and should not have to apologize to God or anyone for anything we do in life. Again, the Bible bears witness, I bear witness, and countless other followers of Jesus bear witness: we have and unfortunately will mess up. When we get frustrated in our daily life, perhaps we can recognize that one of the causes may be sin has crept back in and has to be removed so we can get on with life God’s way again.
Think of sin like a traffic accident on I-30 heading home from Dallas. It may or may not be your fault, but it affects every person on the same road. You can try to ignore the accident all you want, but like it or not it has to be dealt with. People may be hurt and need help. The wrecked cars have to be removed so the road may open back up again. We cannot “get on with it” until this situation is removed. What a relief it is when things start going again!
What are some of the “log jams” or “back ups” you have in your life? Is it perhaps the result of sin (on purpose or not)? Psalm 32 in the middle of the Bible is a wonderful example of David experiencing the same exact thing I have been talking about. I encourage you to take a few minutes, read it and see if when you “acknowledge you sin to God, if God forgives and removes the guilt” for you too. I know it works for me!
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”
and you forgave the guilt of my sin. (Psalm 32:5)
Blessings!
Pastor Chris
