January 28, 2023 - Proverbs 28:13-14

“People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy. Blessed are those who fear to do wrong, but the stubborn are headed for serious trouble.” Proverbs 28:13-14 NLT

Lord, we want to be people who fear doing wrong. We want to choose to walk the path towards righteousness because we love you and we know that is what pleases you. Give us a hatred for sin and for tolerating it in our lives. Open our eyes to areas in which we are tolerating or excusing it in our lives. Help us change that behavior. We don’t want to conceal sin. We can try and hide it away, but that isn’t something that we can do for long. If we feel the need to hide them, we are giving them power over our lives. It is now controlling us. We will find freedom when we bring it to the light and invite others to keep us accountable with it.

Lord, we know that we can’t hide anything from you. You see it all. So why is it that we often choose to sin knowing you see it, but then try and hide it from other people? It is as if their opinion of us matters more than yours. Pleasing you is all that should really matter to us. You are the one that we need to care about how you see us. We thank you for mercy and the forgiveness that you are so wonderful to extend again and again but help us not to think we can abuse that. Also, help us realize that just because you forgive doesn’t mean that we won’t be punished or won’t have to deal with the consequences of our sin. How many blessings are we missing because of what we choose to allow to stay in our lives? How much deeper could we be in our relationship with you if we worked at keeping things in the light and pursuing righteousness? Help us change our mindset if needed. Help us make holiness a lifestyle that we are not willing to compromise. Help us always live in the light.

In Jesus name, amen.