But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.
– 1 John 1:9
The people acknowledged their sins before God. They realized that their ancestors went into captivity in the first place because they repeatedly disobeyed God’s commands. He placed before them the consequences of obedience and disobedience, and they chose the latter, repeatedly. Captivity was the price to pay for their disobedience to God. But in His mercies that are ever true, He told their ancestors that if they realized the errors of their ways and returned to His Word, He was going to bring them back to the land He promised them.
God keeps His Word.
That cannot be said for us. He gave the children of Israel the commandments, and He told them to always read them, to keep it ever before their eyes so that they would be careful to do all that it commanded them to do. As long as they continually read God’s commands and lived by what they said, they would be free from the consequences of disobedience.
As they read from the Book of the Law, their eyes were opened to where they had erred, and they repented.
God is a merciful God.
When we come to Him in repentance, He keeps His Word. He forgives our sins. He does not just forgive; He goes further to cleanse us from the debris of unrighteousness. A clean slate is what we become when we come to God in repentance.
But we must come to a place of realizing and acknowledging the errors of our ways. And not only that, but also going to Him for mercy. Some people acknowledge their sins but never do anything to turn from them. Some are too proud to acknowledge that they are sinners and continue in their sins. Others are crippled by the magnitude of their sins, and Satan cages them into believing they can never be forgiven.
Whatever it is, we can borrow wisdom from today’s verses. When the Holy Spirit reminds us of our shortcomings, or when we read the Word of God and are convicted of missing the mark, we have to acknowledge our wrongs, come to God in repentance, confess our wrongs, and ask for His forgiveness and mercy. And when we do, we are assured that He will forgive us and restore us to right standing with Him. Hallelujah!!!
What a mighty and good God we serve!
One more thing I want us to see. God told the children of Israel to abide by His commandments. The commandments were a reminder of what God required of them as a people and a nation. He told them to read and meditate on His Word day and night, to always talk about it, and to tell their children about it so that they would be careful to do all it said. As we are doing now, if we can continue to be diligent students of God’s Word, choosing daily to live by what it says, sin would be very far from us. The more we read God’s Word, the more we know what it says.
May we always return home to you, Father. Amen.
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