SIN AS A WOUND

MEMORY VERSE: He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. Proverbs 18:13


BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Jonah
One of the names of our Lord is Merciful. Exodus 34:6 says: “And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.” We are all standing today simply because of His mercy. Psalm 130:3-4 says: “If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.” We are all alive because of His mercies. Lamentations 3:22 says: “It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.” God’s mercy attracts human mercy. Jeremiah 42:12 says, “And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.”

However, there are certain criteria you must satisfy before you can receive God’s mercy. Firstly, you must be born again. You must accept Jesus as your personal Lord and saviour. Anyone who does not accept Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior is against Him. Matthew 12:30 says, “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.” Secondly, you must be merciful. Psalm 18:25 says, “With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright.” Not only will the merciful obtain mercy from God, he will also receive blessings from Him (Matthew 5:7). Thirdly, you must be God-fearing. Psalm 103:11 says: “For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.” God’s mercy is not for the wicked. To fear God simply means to depart from evil (Proverbs 16:6). A child who fears God will not steal from his or her parents. Also, a government official who fears God will not steal from government coffers. Lastly, you must confess your sins and forsake them. Proverbs 28: 13 says: “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”

A sin is like a bleeding wound on the leg of an athlete. If the athlete does nothing about the wound and continues to run, he may fall and faint. If he covers it up without treating it properly, the wound will fester and decay. The leg will start to hurt and he won’t be able to run as fast as he could. If he continues like that for several days, the leg will become swollen and the doctors may have to amputate the leg to save his life. The right thing to do is treat the bleeding wound. The only way to treat sin which is also a wound is confess /expose it. Let the fresh air of the Holy Spirit blow on the affected area and healing will start. Go to God humbly and tell Him what you have done. Don’t say God forgive me for my sins. Confess each sin to Him and ask Him to forgive you. After confessing to God, you may need to confess to man in some instances. This is very important if you really want to deal with the sin and silence the accuser. (However, going about this requires godly wisdom and as such, seek counsel from an anointed man of God to guide you on how to go about this). After exposing it to fresh air which is confessing it, commence treatment in other words, forsake it. Investigate what led to the sin and put measures in place to avoid falling into the same sin again. Ask God to keep you standing and also watch!

NOTE: One of the advantages of exposing sin is that you won't want to sin at all because of the embarrassment of confessing it especially when it is against people. Where needed, make restitutions.

twitter@BroOluwatoki

Bro Samuel | Reaching the world