Slow-Walking Sin Out the Door

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Brad. Our reading, titled Slow Walking Sin Out the Door, was written by Adam R. Holes. Winston knows he's not supposed to chew them, so he's adopted a sly strategy. We call it slow walking. If Winston spies a discarded, unguarded shoe, he'll casually meander in that direction, grab it, and just keep walking, slowly, nothing to see here, right out the door if no one notices.

Uh, Mom? Winston just slow walked your shoe out the door. It's apparent that sometimes we think we can slow walk our sin past God. We're tempted to think that he won't notice.

It's no big deal. We rationalize whatever it is. But like Winston, we know better. We know those choices don't please God. Like Adam and Eve in the garden, we may try to hide due to the shame of our sin or pretend like it didn't happen. But Scripture invites us to do something very different, to run to God's mercy and forgiveness. Proverbs 28 13 tells us, whoever conceals their sin does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy. We don't have to try to slow walk our sin and hope no one notices. When we tell the truth about our choices, to ourselves, to God, to a trusted friend, we can find freedom from the guilt and shame of carrying secret sin.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Proverbs 28 verses 13 through 18. Whoever conceals their sin does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy. Blessed is the one who always trembles before God, but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble. Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people. A tyrannical ruler practices extortion, but one who hates ill-gotten gain will enjoy a long reign. Anyone tormented by the guilt of murder will seek refuge in the grave.

Let no one hold them back. The one whose walk is blameless is kept safe, but the one whose ways are perverse will fall into the pit. Let's pray. Father, thank you that our sin doesn't have the last word. Help us to remember that we can be confident of your mercy and forgiveness as we confess our sin to you. Help us to be courageous in confessing our sin to those we've hurt, and help us to seek repair for whatever harm we may have caused. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening today. I'm Stephen Tabor, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.