Anything to Hide?

If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. [Psalm 66:18 NKJV]

In this age of information technology and social networking keeping our personal information secret is almost impossible. A good friend of mine that works on computers tells me that if I can see something on my screen, so can someone else. It is hard to hide things in airwaves. Therefore we have become pretty good in hiding our secrets. We have learned to keep our mouths shut and our thoughts to ourselves to be totally secure because no other human can actually read our thoughts.

Secret sin is the biggest issue within the Kingdom. It is nothing new as we can see from what David had to say. I saw a commercial on T.V. encouraging people to report child abuse. The actors were leading children and wearing a sign on their back that identified them as an abuser. We know they are not that easy to spot and that was the point of the whole commercial. The same applies to those who hide sin in their hearts. No one is immune; pastors, teachers, evangelists, deacons, the Pope; all have the ability to hide sin from the public eye; for a while. Sin will always find a way to surface; just like a backed up septic tank. The real danger associated with hidden sin is not the risk of someone finding it out, the real danger is not having God hear our prayers! He will not hear our prayer of repentance if we continue to regard the sin! One translation puts it this way; “If we are cozy with evil, God will not listen.” Yes, God is faithful to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness; but not until we are ready to let it go. God is not into excusing sin; He is into forgiving it. If we want Him to hear us then we first have to acknowledge our sin, confess it, and then release it.

Allow God to search your heart today just as David asked Him to do. “Search me, O God, and know my heart.” Should He reveal a sin that was tucked away in the dark corner of a closed compartment; lust, anger, hate, etc., then confess it, ask Him to forgive you, and then let it go. Allow Christ to dwell in your heart. Sin cannot live in the same heart with Jesus!