Bible Reading: Leviticus 14; Psalm 17; Proverbs 28; 2 Thessalonians 2
Proverbs 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
Do you want your life to be a prosperous one? Of course you do, everyone does. Here we have a proverb that tells us a sure fire way to make sure you do not prosper – cover up your sins. Let us consider what the Bible wants us to understand by prosperity. The first mention of a word in scripture is a good way to understand a word better. The first time we see the word prosper is in Genesis.
Genesis 24:21 And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.
Abraham had sent his servant to get a wife for Isaac. The man had prayed asking God to show him the right girl in a very certain way. When he met Rebekah he was waiting to see if she would respond in the way he had asked the Lord. If she did, he would know that God had made his journey prosperous. We also read of Joseph being prosperous in all that he did.
Genesis 39:3 And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand.
You can see that prospering in the Bible means to be successful in following God and living a life that is pleasing to him. It does not necessarily mean to be wealthy. Do you want to prosper in following Jesus? Then you must not cover up your sins. You must deal with them in a Biblical manner.
You must confess your sins. This is when you are honest with God and you tell him that what you have done is sin. The Hebrew word yadah translated 'confess' is also translated 'praise' in many places. It means to use the hand or to throw something away. When you hide your sins, it is like you are holding it in a clasped fist behind your back. When you confess your sins to God it is like you are coming to him with open hands raised in praise and not trying to hide anything from him. Not only do we confess them but we also forsake them. Can you see the image of taking your sins and throwing them away from you so your hands are clean to praise God?
The New Testament word for confession means 'to speak the same thing'. When you confess your sins, you are speaking the same thing about sin as God does.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
According to this verse if you confess and forsake your sins you will have mercy. That is prosperous living – walking in the mercy and forgiveness of God!
In Christ,
Rody
