“You may be sure your sins will find you out.” Numbers 32:23 NIV
“The harder you try to run from facing your wrong, the faster truth pursues you.”
My thoughts today are that “you can run, but not hide.”
When I was a young teen, my Dad occasionally would remind me about today’s verse, “Be sure that your sins will find you out.” I was sobered by his words and as a result probably behaved better as a teen than I might have otherwise, but did not feel them threatening as such, nor did my Dad mean them to be. I think he wanted me to have an accurate sense of the folly of sin, and he succeeded in doing that. You will subject your decisions and plans to a more rigid scrutiny when you live everyday life with a deep conviction of the holiness of God and the inherent sinfulness of your own flesh. I believe that to be a healthy exercise and beneficial to one’s spiritual well-being.
The Bible teaches that sin will not remain a secret for long. Sin just won’t stay secret. Denying that you did wrong won’t make that disappear. Hiding from what you have done never works. You see evidence of that every day in the headlines or news programs – politicians, celebrities, business executives, professional athletes, as well as ordinary, everyday people. A person is caught doing something wrong and they deny that they did, until their story just keeps unraveling. The harder you try to run from facing your wrong, the faster truth pursues you.
Ever wondered why? It’s simple really. The devil wants your wrongdoing to be a permanent and fatal flaw, so he tempts you to deny or hide it. Doing so never works out well for anyone but him. “Beware of hypocrisy. The time is coming when everything will be revealed; all that is secret will be made public. Whatever you have . . whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear.” Luke 12:1-3 NLT.
He wants to see your past torture you and allow him to eventually rule over you. If the accuser of your soul can succeed, he can keep you in his grasp in the prison of your own guilt and shame. See Revelation 12:10-11 NIV. And he schemes to control you by the threat of exposure; it is spiritual blackmail, pure and simple. Don’t give him the opportunity. See 2 Corinthians 2:11 NIV.
God cannot allow denying and hiding to work for you. “People who cover their sins will not prosper. But if they confess and forsake them, they shall obtain mercy.” Proverbs 28:13 NLT. How much more plain could anything be? Adam and Eve tried blaming, denying, and hiding in the Garden of Eden. How did that work out for them? Read Genesis 3:6-13 NIV.
God will not let that work for you any better than it did for them. God loves you too much to allow that to happen. It didn’t work for Moses, covering a body in the sands of Egypt. Not for Saul, pleading for his disobedience not to be exposed to the people. Not for David, sending brave and loyal Uriah to the battlefront. Nor for Judas, trying to return the blood money of his cruel betrayal.
There is one simple answer, the same now that has always been – honest and humble repentance before God and man – the only cure. My dearest of friends, Campbell often said, “There is only one way that sin leaves a life – through the mouth, in confession.” See 1 John 1:5-10 NIV/Psalm 32:1-5, 51:9-12 NIV.
My prayer for you today is that you keep short accounts with God. That’s always best.