“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us.” –1 John 1:9
Pushing a paint roller high over head had produced a shower of fine droplets that left tiny white specks on my glasses. Although they were noticeable to others, I was not aware of them. But one morning as I came to work, the angle of the bright sunlight through the lens es of my glasses suddenly made those tiny specks visible and irritating.
So it is with some of our small moral imperfections.
Others can see them, but we can’t. Then, as we study God’s Word, the “true Light” of the Lord Jesus Christ shines on us, and our moral flaws become alarmingly visible. His pure character, genuine love, and unmixed motives show up specks of sinfulness· in everything we do. Little white lies, selfish anger, small hypoc risies, and muddy motives stand out vividly. And they are in all of us to a greater or lesser extent.
How perceptive was the apostle John! He wrote, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves” (1 John 1:8). But thank God, he also said, “If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (2: 1). When we confess our sins, He pleads on our behalf before the Father.
When we confess our shortcomings, God cleanses us from all unrighteousness-even those tiny specks that we don’t always see.
Search out in me all hidden sin,
And may Thy purity within
So cleanse my life that it may be
A temple wholly fit for Thee. -Swallen
Detecting sin is the first step to deliverance from sin.
—vscoc.org
