Fourth Sunday in Lent - Reflecting Jesus

"When I kept silent, 

My bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long

…Then I acknowledged my sin to you." (from Psalm 32)

David identifies the effect on his life of guilt arising from unconfessed sin. It eats away at him, drives him farther away from God. God, of course, already knows David's sin ("day and night your hand was heavy on me"). David just needs to own up to it.

David's struggle is often our struggle, too. We somehow get the idea in our heads that we can hide our sin from God and that if we wait long enough all will be forgotten. But in fact, our unconfessed sin will eat away at us, will drive us away from God, the giver of life. We are the ones that increase the distance between God and ourselves.

God, on the other hand, is constantly reaching out to us, making things right, restoring relationship, reconciling. In fact, those who trust in Jesus are already reconciled. Through God's own efforts through Jesus, we are in good standing with him. 

All God asks is that we turn to him, again and again, day after day. He knows who we are, what we've done, what we do. But he reaches out to us nevertheless, not because those things aren't as bad as we think they are--no, sin is still sin--but because his love for his creatures and his creation is so great that he does not want us to be separated from him.