A pastor told this story on himself in his local newspaper. He was chatting with an older man to whom he had just been introduced. "So, you used to work for a utility company", the pastor said, naming the organization. "Sure did", the man responded. The pastor remarked that when he was a kid the cables from that company ran across his parents' property. "Where do you live?" the man asked. When the pastor told him, the man said, "I remember that property. I had a tough time keeping the cable warning signs up. Kids were always shooting them down". When the pastor's face flushed with embarrassment, the man said, "You were one of the shooters, weren't you?" And indeed he was.
The pastor labeled his confessional story: "Be sure your signs will find you out", a clever play on Moses' words in Numbers 32:23: "Be sure that your sin will find you out". Old wrongs have a way of catching up with us. And old sins that have not been dealt with can lead to serious consequences. As David laments in Psalm 32: "When I kept silent, my bones wasted away" (v. 3). But confessing our wrong restores our fellowship with the Lord: "I acknowledged my sin to you. . . and you forgave the guilt of my sin" (v. 5). Through confession, we can enjoy God's forgiveness. Christians can erase from their memory what God has erased from the record.
AMEN
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