God loves us and wants to
provide for us – in every way! He offers us bread to sustain us through our
days and a living bread to sustain us through eternity. He promises to provide
protection and guidance all the days of our lives and communion with Him all
the days after. We just have to believe and we will have everlasting life with
Him!
That’s easy enough to believe but it can be much more difficult to trust in our day-to-day lives. As humans we fail a lot, and our instinct is to hide that, to cover up our sins and mistakes - to be like Adam and Eve covering up our nakedness. We think (often subconsciously) that we have to be perfect to be close to God - but that doesn’t bring us closer to God. In fact, it pushes us further away from Him and frustrates, saddens or even angers Him. Life can quickly become overwhelming when we try to be perfect – and that’s not what God asks of us. He wants us to be honest with Him and with each other. When we confess our sins He forgives and strengthens us, removing the guilt. When we are honest with each other we often find that we struggle in similar ways. In my own experience I have found that a shared struggle is a much-lessened struggle!
So use this time of Lenten reflection to be honest with yourself, with those around you and with God about the ways you have fallen short; the ways you have tried to cover your sins. Confess them instead and grow closer to the God, rejoicing in the promise of salvation through the ultimate gift given at Easter – Jesus Christ our Risen Lord!
‘Then I acknowledged my
sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity; I said “I will confess my transgressions
to the Lord” – and you forgave the guilt of my sin’.
~ Psalm 32.5
Morgan Buckner
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