BY JACK WARD
PASTOR, TOMAHAWK MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH
When we sin we try to justify it, rectify it and ignore it. But the thing is that God knows all about it. God hates sin, but fortunately, He loves the sinner. As long as we are alive, though, we will try to sin and get away with it. That is just the way we are.
When a man has his sin revealed, he can devise some creative ways to try and justify his sins. Several years ago, the House of Representatives voted 426-0 to reveal the names of all past and present members who have bounced checks at the House bank, an act that one commentator likened to committing “mass political suicide.”
They tell us that when the list was finally released it contained 355 names. Some of our elected officials evidently never bothered to balance their checkbooks. One wrote 972 bad checks; another wrote 716. The man who wrote 716 rubber checks is from the Chicago area. He held an indignant press conference at which he loudly proclaimed that it was nobody else’s business since no public money was involved. With an air of extreme anger, he proclaimed, “It’s personal.”
But he wasn’t the best one. The best performer so far is a man named Charles Wilson from Texas. As I took notes, he seemed to be making five different excuses for his overdrawn checks.
1. “It’s not a crime like child abuse.” (Translation: “It’s not so bad.”)
2. “My people knew I was sloppy when they elected me.” (Translation: “They knew I was stupid when they elected me.”)
3. “If you’ve ever bounced a check, vote for me. If not, vote for my opponent.” (Translation: “Everybody does it.”)
4. “The system was all fouled up.” (Translation: “It’s not my fault.”)
5. “It’s no big deal.” (Translation: “It’s no big deal.”)
We need to stop trying to justify our sins and do exactly what the Lord Himself said to do with them. Simply confess them. 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
The word “confess” is a word that means “to say the same thing about something.” The word “repentance” means about the same thing. Repentance means to change your mind about something and go in a different direction.
God says that my sins are wretched and filthy. He says that they harm His Kingdom and rob Him of His glory. He says my sins hurt me in ways I have never thought about. He wants me to say the same thing about my sins that He is saying about them. He just wants me to come clean, and when I do, He has promised to make me clean and give me the strength to turn from sin and follow Jesus.
Are there some who need to come and confess some sin to the Lord? Folks, being religious will not save your soul and will not buy you favor with the Lord. The only thing that brings us near Him is putting our sins behind us. Do you need to confess the sins in your life?
Hear Pastor Jack’s sermons, get sermon outlines, texts and more at www.tomahawkmbc.com.