"Looking To God"

  It's a great passage of comfort that the Holy Spirit wanted us to hear through the apostle John: "...and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin." (I John 1:7) How does the blood of Jesus continually do that? By our willingness to walk where the Lord lives, in the Light and willingly confess our sins to be forgiven! Too many seem to spend time finding excuses or justifying their actions when they need to be willing to confess them to Jesus. "That's just the way I am!" or "That's the way I was raised!". Maybe "You need to accept me for who I am!" or "That's the way I am wired!". When we have finished with our little discourse to why we did something, why we have talked ourselves into the state of mind that we had no choice but to sin, we find ourselves not responsible! We have too much to say for ourselves!

  We hear Jesus speak in Luke 18:9-14 of the Pharisee who trusted in himself compared to a lowly tax collector who knew himself! The Pharisee prayed to himself. The lowly man confessed before the Father asking for mercy. The Pharisee took pride in his religious works. The tax collector stood at a distance and couldn't even look up into the heaven above. One had so much to speak. The other had nothing to say for himself. One called on his religious goodness. The other called on his failure to be taken away.

  When will we learn? When will we take sin seriously? Just ask the Father how serious He takes sin? Just look to Jesus and see the seriousness of sin. Sins of speech. Sins of thoughts. Sins of anger. Sins of the flesh. Open sins and secret sins. Sins of the ears and eyes. Subtle sins. The Father calls us through the Son: "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world." (I John 2:1-2) See yourself as the redeemed. See yourself in the Light of Jesus. See yourself rescued from your sins. But don't excuse yourself when you sin. We have more than the gift of God. We have been given the life of God through Jesus our Lord!