'Fess Up!

They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their fathers.”  Nehemiah 9:3

If confession is good for the soul, then some of our souls might not be faring so well.  Since honest and humble admission of our faults and failures seems unpleasant, we often skip it or skimp on it—hitting only the highlights (or rather, the lowlights) but not acknowledging the true scope of our transgressions.

But we shouldn’t.  As God’s children, we are called and commanded to confess our sins, and God’s assurance of forgiveness awaits our admission of guilt.  “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”(1 John 1:9).  Over and over and over, without fail, God will forgive our authentic owning up.  Such complete and recurring cleansing is possible through the faithfulness of His character and the justice of the cross.

The importance of confession was so evident to Nehemiah and his fellow countrymen that they put it on the calendar. “On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together…They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their fathers”(Neh 9:1,3).  As a physical reminder and indication of their contrition, the people fasted, dressed in rough sackcloth, and dumped dust on their heads.

There was nothing private about their confessions.  They all knew that they all had sinned, and they all said so—and even included the offenses of their ancestors.  For several hours, they poured out their hearts to God, acknowledging and agreeing with God about their wrong.  “They read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of a day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God”(Neh 9:3). 

They obviously had much to confess because they hadn’t kept current in their coming clean!  Don’t let sin sit too long before you say you’re wrong.  Our confession should be like the voting mantra of a corrupt Chicago mayor—early and often.  God already knows all we’ve done.  We’re the ones who are miserable trying to keep it in and cover it up.  Please don’t.  Confession isn’t comfortable, but it’s cleansing, so own up to your wrong, and let God make you right.

Schedule a time of confession, and make it today.