Pastor’s Thoughts: Too bad…

April 25th, 2008 admin Posted in Pastor's Thoughts |

It was the last day of school my Junior year in High School.  I went to graduation, and afterwards hung out with my usual group of friends.  We were a pretty wholesome group, but like to play pranks.  That night we stepped the prank up a bit.  Dressed in all black, on a rainy, dreary night, I decided to head home.  So I walked with flashlight in hand to a road where my car was parked behind a construction sign.  Out of no where three swat cars appeared in three different directions and told me to freeze!

Apparently neighbors had called that some suspicious individuals were in the area.  I tried to explain that we were just doing a harmless prank, but the truth seemed so unbelievable.  After searching my car, grilling me for over an hour, and a number of threats, they let me go home.

The drive home was the horrible.  What do I do?  How would my parents, my dad a pastor, forgive his son for getting in trouble with the law?

I learned a valuable lesson that day.  Nothing is too bad to confess.  Keeping it in just makes it worse.  Keeping our dark secrets from God and the one’s we love eats away at us and works its way between our God and our loved ones.  God offers forgiveness, no matter what it is.  Nothing is too bad. 

We all have had dark secrets in our lives that we are convinced no one could get past.  We do whatever we can to hide and cover them up.  Jesus offers grace, forgiveness and freedom from the guilt and the weight.  I encourage you to find a person you trust and confess your dark secrets that you carry and ask God to forgive and heal you.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9(NIV)