David, guilty of harming his neighbor in every way, has sinned against the Lord. He has broken commandments 6-10 and is deeply embedded in sin. In His mercy, God sends His prophet, Nathan to council him and David has a choice to make. He can minimize, excuse and even deny his actions as a way of avoiding confession. David may or not be thinking that the only way to receive forgiveness is to admit that one needs it in the first place. To his credit, David confesses immediately. And the Lord forgives his sin as only the Lord can.
James 5:16 New Living Translation says: “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” Confession is part and parcel of our spiritual healing. We must come before God, admit we have sinned, and repent – turn away from it – if we want to be forgiven. And God is faithful to forgive a truly repentant sinner.
Daily, we engage in conversations about everything from sports to weather to pets to our kids and grandkids. But, let’s face it, nothing is more valuable or important to us than our certainty in the resurrection and our eternal life in heaven. What keeps us from talking about the single most important thing in the world may just come down to a lack of practice. We don’t feel comfortable engaging in things we’re not in the habit of doing. This week I suggest we take a leap of faith and tell just one person we’re going to heaven and see where the conversation goes from there. If you don’t explode or spontaneously combust, you’ll come away with some practice. Keep it up each week thereafter. You’ll get better, and more confident each time.
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
His love endures forever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story
— those He redeemed from the hand of the foe, -Psalm 107:1-2 (NIV)
