I have to confess, this idea of “pushing pause” is not completely my own. Greg told it to me, and if I had to take a guess as I write this, it would be that he heard it from Dr. Frank Turek. When I know for sure, I’ll update this post! 😉
Greg and I often speak of the Christian life being marked by confession and repentance. I am a very imperfect person, and sin is still present in my life. I am very aware of this truth. Because of that, I need to live a life that consists of confession and repentance. According to the dictionary, confess means “to tell or make known (something, such as something wrong or damaging to oneself) ; to acknowledge (sin) to God or to a priest; : to disclose one’s faults. “Faults” is a pretty word for sin in my life. Often I need to confess my sin not only to God, but to others, like James tells us to: “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.” What is revealed can be healed.
As great as confession is, I have been guilty of confession, because, well, of guilt. My heart wasn’t ready to change though. There may have been conviction, and I knew what I had done was sin, but to actually repent wasn’t in my desires. Let’s go back to the dictionary for a minute. Repent: to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life; to feel regret or contrition; to change one’s mind.
So, have I turned from my sin? Or have I just pressed pause on it? You see, I often just press pause on it. It’s like pausing a TV show so I can go get a snack and come back later. I’ll push pause on my sin, knowing it needs to be removed, but maybe I’m “just not ready” to give it up, all the while hurting myself and those around me. I’m not really ready to repent (turn from my sin) so I push pause on it, resolving in my heart that I’ll leave it for a while and come back to it later. Make no mistake, my sin doesn’t hurt just me and your sin doesn’t hurt just you. We hurt others along the way.
I’m saying “I” in these sentences, but I have a feeling that I’m not alone. Have you ever found yourself just pushing pause on your sin instead of truly turning from it and walking in a different direction? Don’t press pause. Let’s be resolved to turn from our sin, letting it have no place in our lives and walking in the way everlasting.
In her book, “None Like Him“, Jen Wilkin says this in the conclusion: “Our response to the awesome revelation of God’s character should be to hate sin with complete hatred, with every fiber of our being, and to petition God to commit it to total destruction. But note whose sin concerns David the most in light of God’s glory: ‘Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.’
Psalm 139:23-24 (emphasis mine).
Search me. Try me. Expose me. Lead me. Awe begets humility, confession, and submission.
We have spent ten chapters attempting to make a start at embracing our limits in light of our limitless God. If, in considering ten things that are true only of God you have felt the awakening of awe, let your response be David’s. What better worship can we offer than our willingness to see and confess sin? Our willingness to walk in the way everlasting, the path of wisdom?”
I don’t want to keep pressing pause on sin. Like David, I want to have a searchable heart before the Lord. I want to be willing to accept what He shows me, and be moldable clay in the hands of the Potter, so that I might be more like Jesus. I hope today, we will agree to stop pressing pause and start truly turning away, never to return to our sin.
