Today’s Verse—Proverbs 28:13
Anyone who hides his sins doesn’t succeed. But anyone
who admits his sins and gives them up finds mercy.
We never really get away with sin. For Christians, there are three truths about secret sin. First, it will haunt us.
In the Odyssey episode* “The Tangled Web” (album 1), Jeremy told his mom a lie about what happened to the money he was supposed to use for groceries. He actually lost it when he went to Whit’s End without permission, but instead he told his mother someone stole it. The lie got bigger and bigger, and soon the mayor was giving Jeremy an award for bravery! Jeremy had a chance to confess his lie . . . but he didn’t. Did Jeremy get away with it? Of course not. That sin will haunt him all the days of his life. Every time he looks at that award, he’ll know it was based on his sin. A constant feeling of guilt is a terrible thing to live with.
The second truth about secret sin is there’s a good chance it will be exposed. Numbers 32:23 says, “You can be sure that your sin will be discovered. It will be brought out into the open.”
In 1989, evidence came to light that baseball player/manager Pete Rose had made bets on baseball games while he was managing the Cincinnati Reds. This is illegal and would have resulted in Rose being fired. But he denied it. For fifteen years he told reporter after reporter that he never bet on baseball games. Finally the evidence was overwhelming, and he admitted to everything. Now Rose has to live with people knowing that he made illegal bets and lied about it.
Wandering with Wooton
When I was seven, I broke my mother’s favorite necklace trying to teach my dog Barky to hula hoop (long story). I put the necklace back in the jewelry box and never told her. It haunted me for years, and I finally told her two years ago. I felt like a huge load had been lifted off my shoulders! Of course, she told me she knew the whole time. (I think Barky ratted me out!)
The third truth about secret sin is that even if no one on earth ever finds out, the most important One of all will know—God. Proverbs 15:3 says, “The eyes of the Lord are everywhere. They watch those who are evil and those who are good.” We should be more interested in pleasing God than anyone else. In eternity, we won’t stand in front of our friends and families to be judged. We’ll stand before God.
Even though God already knows our sins, we should confess them anyway—to God and to each other. It helps us realize what we’ve done, and it will help us do better next time.
Daily Challenge
Do you have any secret sins? Go to the people you sinned against and confess to them.
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Overcoming Sin Theme Memory Verse—Romans 3:23–24
Everyone has sinned. No one measures up to God’s glory. The free gift of God’s grace makes all of us right with him. Christ Jesus paid the price to set us free.
* This was one of the very first episodes, number 12. Want to listen to the Adventures in Odyssey episodes in order? Go to www.whitsend.org/vault and browse by album number, starting with 1.