Out With the Old; In With the New
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
-1 John 1:9, ESV
One day, after thoroughly vacuuming the floors, I put away the vacuum cleaner and began mopping. As I reached my kitchen table, I noticed I had missed some crumbs beneath a chair. I stood there for a moment looking at the crumbs, trying to decide if I needed to pull the vacuum cleaner back out.
As I looked at my dilemma, I suddenly realized the crumbs under the chair were very similar to unconfessed sins in our lives. If I had mopped over the crumbs, I would have spread that bit of dirt over the rest of the clean areas of my floor. Instead of having one hidden, dirty spot, I would now have it mixed into every area of the floor.
Our spiritual lives are very much like the small area of dirt on the floor. We may feel we have confessed all our sins to the Savior, yet we know in one corner of our hearts there is one sin we really do not want to take the time to address with Him. Instead, we push it back, but, ultimately, that “hidden” sin is going to spread itself into all areas of our lives. By not confessing every sin in our hearts to God, we create a barrier in our relationship with Him. God already knows each sin we struggle with, so why do we hesitate to fully open ourselves to Him and His healing power? We should remember 1 Peter 5:7, where Peter tells us to cast all our cares on God. He loves us so much and wants to help and heal us. We also need to remember what 1 John 1:9 tells us. If we confess our sins, Jesus will forgive us and cleanse us.
As we begin this new year, do not close out any area of your heart from God. Confess all to Him and allow His healing power to work in your life. Like the crumbs on my floor, it may take some work on your part to address something you would rather skip over. But not even my clean floor can compare to having a heart completely confessed to God and open to whatever He has in store for your life!