Joyful Confession
Isaiah 43:25-44:5
We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Our wrongs may have been left unattended for a long time. Our lives may seem like parched fields where good things just don't grow anymore. Years of denial have left the stubble of pain on the landscape of our lives. We look at the lives of our children and feel ashamed. We see the desolation they suffer because we didn't have the means to meet even our own needs, let alone theirs.
The Lord wants our wrongs brought before him so that he can flood them with forgiveness. He spoke through Isaiah: "I-yes, I alone-will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again. Let us review the situation together, and you can present your case to prove your innocence. . . . I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children. They will thrive like watered grass, like willows on a riverbank" (Isaiah 43:25-26; 44:3-4).
We don't have to leave our wrongs scattered over the landscape of our past. The Lord longs to overcome them with loving forgiveness, so that we can spring to life once again. The forgiveness is instantaneous, erasing all the wrongs in our past. God longs to replenish the landscapes of our lives and our children's lives so that we will be beautiful to behold. When we admit our wrongs to God we can do so joyfully, reminding him of his wonderful promises!
When God forgives us, we don't have to worry that he might remind us later of our past offenses.
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