Confess When We Cross The Line

Scripture

Our focus this week will be on honesty, and our verse is from Genesis 3:4-5, “Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘you will not surely die. for God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good from evil.’” 

Background

Our society is so filled with exaggeration and hyperbole that we have become almost calloused to it, if not completely oblivious. We knowingly take it for granted in so many areas that we don’t even bother to notice it or assess its potential damage to us. What television commercial have you seen recently that you thought was telling you the truth? Now maybe that’s no big deal, but for some of us, how many commercials do we see in a day? How much false junk do we put in our minds? And then we get in our car and hear the noise of the radio or read the noise of the billboards, making us deeply accustomed to how the world sells itself. And this is without even a mention of politicians and the rhetoric of government, the big talkers that steer our country and try to shape our communities.

So when it comes time for us to put ourselves out there, which face do we put on? All of us know the temptation to omit certain details in a conversation or in the answer to a question so as to give a certain impression. Or how about when we have to answer a question from one of our kids? That’s always a great opportunity to craft a response that doesn’t put us on the hot seat. But as we read this passage, it hits us between the eyes exactly who we are being like when we do that. 

Application

Our twists of a word or deletion of a fact, while trying to make us appear more good, more “like God,” actually do the exact opposite. They reveal the sinful nature within us and, left unchecked, make us more and more like the fallen than the forgiven. Rather than showing forth the image of God, we reflect the image of what God had to die for. While we try to show our best or be more than we actually are, we are getting a first-hand taste of the evil which brought us the cross. Nothing is worth that. No fruit advertised in any enticing way can replace the sweet peace of honesty. So eat from that tree, and you will be like God. 

Charge

As we seek Him today, let’s confess to our Father places where we have crossed that line that we like to call gray. Ask Him for opportunities to be honest and truthful as a reflection of our Maker, and rely on His strength to make it happen. 

Rich Holt / BCWorldview.org