The other day I took my dog outside for a run. Well on her way down the road she smelled something and she turned off the road and into the woods. Figuring it was likely a rabbit or bird I didn’t think much about it and continued down the road, knowing she would catch up soon. But when she finally did catch up to me to my surprise (and amusement) she showed me just exactly what she had smelled. It was an entire leg from a deer carcass! I laughed and we turned around to head back towards home, and yes, she decided to carry those bones back with her the entire walk back to the house.
Now she loves chewing on bones in the house all the time, but this bone that she had found was just nasty looking: it was bloody, dirty, and it still had bits and pieces of hair stuck to it! As we walked up to the door of the house my dog stood there, waiting to be let in, bone and all. But as much as she wanted to bring it in, I told her she needed to leave that old, dirty bone outside. She needed to leave it behind.
Just like my dog and her bone, we too must leave our sins behind. We need to forsake all those things that defile us, and come to Christ for forgiveness. We need to forsake and leave our sins behind us, and begin a new life so that we may enter into the Kingdom of Heaven someday.
In order for a person to begin that new life, they need to do something first: they need to admit their faults, and confess them so that they can be forgiven.
Confession means “the open admission of having done something, especially something wrong or bad.” So when a person “confesses” their sins, It is the acknowledgement of a person’s mistakes and wrongdoings. That is the first step that a person has to take on the road to forgiveness.
“I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.” Psalm 32:5
Some people however don’t or won’t admit that they are sinners, and have sinned. They don’t want to change. They won’t let go of their sins, but if someone wants to receive the gift of eternal life someday, that is what they need to do. If we want forgiveness, we need to admit our sins, and it is then that we will receive mercy.
“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” Proverbs 28:13
I’m sure many of you know at least one person who is very stubborn or is hard to persuade to change something in their life. They don’t think that they need to change anything that they do. That is just like someone living in their sins, without Christ. They don’t think that they need to change, or need to repent. But the truth is that everyone has sinned, and we all need to confess our sins if we want to receive God’s mercy.
God is full of mercy and forgiveness, and wants all people to repent and follow His Son Jesus. He wants everyone to confess their sins, so that they can receive that reward of eternal life. But it requires that a person lets go and turns from their sins.
The Apostle Paul himself recognized that he was a sinner, and needed to let go of those sins to be forgiven. He even went so far as to call himself the “chief of sinners.” But he knew that any and all of those sins that he had done would be forgiven if he confessed them.
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
It takes humility to admit that you are wrong, and need forgiveness. It requires that a person remove any and all pride out of their life. Forgiveness isn’t earned, it is given. There is no price that can be paid to attain forgiveness. It is free. The free gift of forgiveness.
It is time to forsake your sins. Leave those old bones behind so that you may enter in!
In Christ,
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 