Exposition:

God covets relationship above performance. He created us in his image so that he can have a relationship with us or live in us. And he cannot have a relationship with us in our sinful rebellious state. We need to be forgiven, cleansed, and be made habitable for his presence. In the prodigal’s story we shared on Day three, we realized that although he was forgiven, he needed to be cleansed and clothed before being readmitted into sonship. Anytime we admit to our sins and confess them to the father, we receive his pardon and the blood shed on Calvary’s Cross is activated on our behalf, and proto – our sins are forgiven and forgotten.

Now if it is that simple why would people not do that. Satan will not like us to chart that course. He would rather have us hide away from our sins, through rationalization. Projection, denial, and self- abasement, rather than to confess them. All these lead us lead us farther away from God and further into sin. And as our loneliness becomes evident, the devil presents himself as a substitute “father” with the single aim to destroy us. To this, Jesus said, “The thief comes only to kill, to steal, and to destroy, But I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10). If we turn to God, he will take away our sin burden and set us free from it forever.

In the Hebrew language, the term “to forgive,” is rendered “to carry (a burden) and throw it away.” Jesus thus carried our burden of sin, guilt, and shame and threw them away into the depths of the sea, never to be remembered again. And he will give us the needed rest (Matthew 11:28). When the relationship between us and God is restored, he goes ahead to heal us of every wound that we have been afflicted with. We will look at that into a little detail tomorrow, God willing.

God wants you fully back into a lifelong relationship. Will you let him? What is that single sin that is standing between you and him? The Bible says: “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”