But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (1 John 1:9, NLT)
Tournament season is in full bloom at many clubs. Mild weather is a golfer’s favorite.
Maybe you’re taking this seriously and you’ve circled your club championship coming up on the calendar. In my case, it’s the senior championship—old guys unite!
Recently, I was playing in a tournament at my club. If you don’t know me, I’m an optimist. I was looking forward to playing the best two rounds possible over the two days. I practiced more than usual to get prepared for the big weekend. When we started, I had it going. Then, all of a sudden, bogey-double bogey. My mind started to doubt, and on my final hole I made another double. It was a tough finish to me, and I had to keep reminding myself that this game does not define me. Sin entered my heart, and I did not feel good after playing the last three holes as badly as I did. I let the game get to me.
I went to a Links Fellowship a day after the tournament and, oh, how I needed to hear this line: Our sin nature is from the womb to the tomb.
That might not sound very encouraging to you. We’d all love to get rid of sin and its devastating effects on our spirits and our souls. But I am a human being and when I understand that the sin nature is a part of me, I go seek help. It’s found in Jesus.
Dirt collects on me every day, but this does not keep me from taking a shower. Just like this, sin should not keep me from seeking God’s forgiveness. Many people aren’t comfortable with the idea of the sin nature. They want to tell us that we are basically good. But like me, you’ve spent time around small children. My grandchildren may be cuter than yours, but guess what? They lie to me. And they’re not very good at it. They’re so obvious. Who taught that little child to lie? No one. Even children know when they have done wrong—and they try to cover it up. This is the sin nature.
Without hope, the sin nature could drive us to despair. But hope is what we find in 1 John 1:9. I hold on to this verse tightly, as God promises so much here. If we confess our sins to him, God is faithful and just to forgive. We don’t have to figure out how to defeat our sin nature. We have to humbly recognize it and the sin it leads us to. Then we have to confess and let the cleansing begin. In spite of our sin, God loved us so much that he sent his Son Jesus to make the forgiveness possible.
Stubbornness, deceit, pride, unbelief—all of these are part of our sin nature and could keep us from God. But why would we do that when he promises to cleanse us from all wickedness? Dirt collects on me every day, but this does not keep me from taking a shower. Just like this, sin should not keep me from seeking God’s forgiveness. It flows freely.
A pastor friend said our faith is like a muscle: The more we exercise it, the stronger it becomes. It takes the strength of humility to own up to our sin. It takes the strength of humility to confess to God that we have done wrong (again). But then his strength comes rushing in, to forgive us and to help us stay away from sin the next time it tries to drag us down.
—
Dereck Wong
May 13, 2019
Copyright 2019 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
Photo By Pixabay From Pixels