Today’s Bible Reading: NUMBERS 32:1-33:56
Numbers 32:23
But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out.-
We all keep secrets. Everyone has things they don’t want anyone to find. We have things that if they were discovered would damage our reputation and destroy our credibility. We conceal them hoping they will remain hidden. It may be so among men, but not before God. The all-seeing eye of the almighty uncovers what we seek to conceal. He unearths what we have buried.
Some of the people of Israel wanted to possess prime grazing land on in east side of the Jordan River rather than in the land of Canaan. They were given permission provided they crossed into the promise land to fight until all the land was defeated and their brothers occupied the land. They then could return and inhabit their land. To not comply was a sin against the Lord.
If they somehow reneged on their responsibility, they could have concealed it from others but it was not obscured from the omnipresent one. It is ever present before God. The writer of Hebrews affirms this when he states, “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Heb 4:13). Our secrets are exposed before the Lord. Our sins are found out by Him.
This truth has both in a positive and a negative perspective. It is negative in the sense that we can’t get by with personal sin. What we do in private is public before God, “your sin will find you out”. We cannot cloak it, camouflage it or cover it up. It is in His full view when we commit it and when we attempt to conceal it.
But this truth also has two positive aspects. First, no sin committed against us will stay hidden. No secret will be secure. God will reveal it. He will respond to it. He will not let them go unpunished. He is the one who will vindicate us. His justice will prevail.
Second, when our transgressions are manifest, it is so we might be broken and plead for mercy. When He uncovers our sin before us, He provides a covering for it. Our punishment is put upon another. Our pardon is provided because of another. It is in the sinless life of Jesus, that we have a sin bearer. He is the one who can bear the punishment for our sin by His sacrificial death for our sins. By His stripes we are healed. Through His pain we find pardon. It is by Him that God’s justice is met and we are justified before Him.
Make no mistake, “your sin will find you out”, but in our misdeeds, our Lord manifests His mercy. There is no hiding our sins from Him, just as there is no hiding His salvation from us. Our sins are publicly seen before God, our Savior was publicly sacrificed before men. Rather than hiding our sins in hopes they won’t be found, we should hand them to Christ knowing that they will be forgiven. Instead of concealing your sins, we should confess them.
Today examine your soul to see if any secret sins reside there. Ask the Lord to help you realize and remove every sin that is hiding within you. Fess up. Expose them. Don’t give them quarter anymore. Get real and get rid of them. Ask the Lord to forgive you and help you to no longer harbor hidden sins. Thank Him for Jesus our sin-bearer.
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