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Steps to Jesus
If we truly confess, pouring out our hearts to God, He will hear
and pity us. The psalmist, David, wrote, “The Lord is nigh unto
them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite
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spirit.”
Psalm 34:18
, KJV.
True confession names the sin. It tells exactly what was done.
A person may need to confess some sins only to God. Or he may
need to go to some person and tell him that he is sorry he has hurt
him. He may need to confess some sins in public. But every time a
person confesses, he should name the sin of which he is guilty.
In the days of Samuel the people of Israel were not following
God. They had lost faith in God and felt He was no longer able to
lead them. They did not feel God’s power, nor did they trust Him to
care for them. They turned away from the great Ruler of the universe
and asked for a king such as the other nations had.
God gave His people a king, but they had many troubles. Before
they could find peace with God they made this confession: “We now
realize that, besides all our other sins, we have sinned by asking for
a king.”
1 Samuel 12:19
. They had to confess the exact sin that had
caused their trouble. They had not been thankful to God for His
leading, and this had cut them off from Him.
God cannot accept our confession unless we repent and give up
our sins. We must make decided changes in our lives. When we are
truly sorry for sin, we will give up everything that is not pleasing
to God. The work that we must do is plainly set before us: “Wash
yourselves clean. Stop all this evil that I see you doing. Yes, stop
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doing evil and learn to do right. See that justice is done—help those
who are oppressed, give orphans their rights, and defend widows.”
Isaiah 1:16, 17
. “If he [an evil man] returns the security he took for
a loan or gives back what he stole—if he stops sinning and follows
the laws that give life, he will not die, but live.”
Ezekiel 33:15
.
Paul says that changes take place when a person repents: “See
what God did with this sadness of yours: how earnest it has made
you, how eager to prove your innocence! Such indignation, such
alarm, such feelings, such devotion, such readiness to punish wrong-
doing! You have shown yourselves to be without fault in the whole
matter.”
2 Corinthians 7:11
.
When sin dulls the moral senses, the sinner does not see what is
wrong with his character. His sins do not look very bad to him. He