Daily Devotion - Isaiah 1:18 - Being Honest with God
He's not asking us to confess our sin because He doesn't know. He's asking because He wants us to know.
"If you lie about it, you'll be in bigger trouble."
Maybe those words sound familiar. Maybe you've heard them from a parent; maybe you've said them to your own child. They can bring with them a sense of nostalgia, remembering a time when someone was encouraging the truth by playing "good cop". Your punishment will be reduced - or possibly even dismissed - if you're up front with your mistake.
I've used this tactic with my children and - I hate to admit - I just wanted to know who broke the mug or who made the mess in the living room. I needed to know who to yell at and discipline for their error, and the thought of them denying it made me that much more frustrated.
But of course, God takes a different approach with us. His constant encouragement for confession in Scripture is for Him to find out what we did. He already knows that. Rather, His call is an invitation to sit with Him, talk about the things you've done and - more importantly - why you did them and turned away from His goodness.
He's not asking us to confess our sin because He doesn't know. He's asking because He wants us to know.
[Isaiah 1:18 ESV] 18 "Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, God is offering here a settlement of accounts. Two parties would agree to sit down together, go over their ledgers and settle up any debts they owed each other. If a cup of sugar was borrowed, it would be noted and promptly returned. If it was a much greater sum, they would work out some form of payment - usually in the form of labor. After they had gone over every item, they would consider the debt settled.
God does this with us on a much larger scale. In this verse, He is saying to us, "Look, let's be reasonable about this. You have a sin nature that separates you from me. I have abundant grace and mercy. Let's just sit down together, go over the books and find out what needs to be wiped clean. When you see how much I'm forgiving you, you'll understand."
This is God's call for honesty. It's not for telling Him anything; it's for acknowledging to ourselves how much we need His forgiveness. Like Adam, God's not asking "Where are you?" because He somehow lost us. He wants us to know where we are, because we lost ourselves.
Question to Consider
What dark spaces of your heart are you keeping from the light so you can hide them from yourself?
Prayer for Today
Lord Jesus, I know there are areas of my life that I keep hidden away - not from You - but from myself because I'm too scared to face the reality of who I am inside. I know that You will forgive me for all things, but I'm not sure I'll be able to forgive myself. Please give me the courage to show up with my debts and face them in the light of day. Amen
