The Cover Up

"He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy." Proverbs 28:13

There is a lot of truth in this one sentence!  Let's take a closer look at it and discover the important truths we can learn from this verse.

First, notice what it says about sin.  It says the person who covers their sin will not prosper.  If you are committing sin, you may cover it up for a while.  You may be fooling family and friends about your sin.  You may even seem to be getting by with it.  But the truth of the matter is your sin that you are keeping covered and secret will eventually come out.  Numbers 32:23 clearly says, "...be sure your sin will find you out."  If you cover your sin and continue in it, you will not prosper and you will eventually stand before the Lord and receive the penalty for your sin which is death. (Romans 6:23)

Second, when we confess and forsake our sins, we will find God's mercy.  To confess our sins means we say the same thing that God says about them - that they are wrong.  We confess, in agreement with God, that our sin is wrong and is offensive to Him.  Next, we need to forsake our sin.  To forsake sin is to give it up, to turn away from it.  Consider this verse when you think about forsaking sin.  1 Thessalonians 1:9 says about the Christians in Thessalonica, "...how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God..."  Notice that they were worshiping idols and they turned from them - forsaking them - and turned to the true God.  When we forsake our sins, we turn from them and turn to God.

If you have never confessed and forsaken your sins you will not prosper.  If you repent and confess your sins and forsake them - turning from them to God - you will find mercy and forgiveness.