Forgiveness

We were sitting at the dining room table one recent morning, ready to begin another school day. As we always do, we read out of our devotional book before starting our school day with prayers. The story that day was about a boy who had broken one of his mother's favorite vases. He was too afraid to tell his mom, so he took the broken pieces and buried them in the yard. His father later bought a shrub for the mother and - you guessed it - planted it in the exact spot where the broken pieces of pottery lay. His sin discovered, the boy apologized to his mother, who reminded him that she would have forgiven him the day it happened, if he had only come to her.

The application questions asked: Are you hiding some sins, thinking they will never be found out? Do you think you are getting away with something? God knows all about it. Confess your sins, take the consequences, and receive forgiveness.

After reading the questions, Reed looked over at me with a trembling lip and tears welling up in his eyes. "Mom, I did something", he said. Worried about what kind of confession I might hear, I asked anyway. He came to me and buried his head in my chest, sobbing with guilt and shame.

"You know how at CiCi's they will give you a quarter if one of the machines doesn't work and it takes yours? I told them that had happened and it didn't really... I just wanted to play another game."

Tears - confession -forgiveness -relief. He had been hiding that secret sin for months. He told me that as I read the story and asked the questions, his heart was beating out of his chest and he knew he had to confess that very day. The Holy Spirit was working in his little 9 year old heart.

Thank you, Father, that Your Word promises forgiveness when we come to you.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9