Confession opens the door of grace. Denial closes it.
Quite an irony.
Before God, to plead one's guilt is to be forgiven. To plead one's innocence is to be imprisoned.
Such it was with Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:1-7), their son Cain (Genesis 4:9), and with fallen Image-bearers in every generation.
Of Hosea's generation, God observes, "When I would heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed, and the evil deeds of Samaria. They deal falsely, the thief breaks in and the bandits raid outside. But they do not consider that I remember all their evil. Now their deeds surround them; they are before My face" (Hosea 7:1-2).
GOD SEES EVERYTHING
We forget, to our peril, that the Lord misses nothing. Actually, we should be more aware of this, given our life in days when virtually everything is now on some video camera somewhere. Driving habits, shopping in stores, going to class. Some human eye is hacking into our living each moment. Goodness, Google Earth can zero in on your home right now from thousands of miles in space.
So why might we think God misses anything? The One who immediately knows the number of hairs remaining on our heads, or when each sparrow falls. "All are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must given an account" (Hebrews 4:13).
STILL, WE OFTEN COVER UP
One of the more silly moves on the part of our ancestry was the attempt to hide in the bushes. "They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden...and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden" (Genesis 3:8).
You're kidding, Moses, right? When you wrote that for Abraham's descendants (and for the world of humanity), was there a smirk on your face? Like, "C'mon man!! Hiding from the One who just finished creating the heavens and all their host, the One who knows the name of every star He fashions??? Nice try..."
Still, God patiently gave them a call of grace. "Where are you?" (3:9) [Another smirk, Moses?] A call to emerge from shame and 'fess up. A call which ended in grace. "The Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them" (3:21). Some living animal had to die that their shame might be covered.
NO EXCUSES BRINGS GRACE
"If we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
Our best move is to shed our willful ignorance about the Lord. He hates our sin because His righteous heart knows both what joy righteousness brings to living, and (conversely) how sin destorys us when we simply try to forget it.
Every open, sincere confession brings a fresh shower of cleansing grace from God, along with a renewed heart to walk with Him in the Light (1 John 1:5).
Don't be afraid to come out of the bushes.
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