A Secret Is A Terrible Thing

I want to warn you about one of Satan's favorite schemes...secrets. A secret is a terrible thing...especially when the secret is your own sin.When you hide a sin, keeping it "just your little secret", what you are doing, unintentionally no doubt, is allowing Satan leverage over you. He can, and will, use that "dirty little secret" against you. "But it's just between me and God", "I'll never do it again", "It was so long ago". Sadly, all you're rationalizing won't change that. A secret sin is the equivalent of allowing Satan to put a handle in the middle of your back. Every time you try to stand up spiritually, Satan will use that sin against you. He will black-mail you. Interestingly, the name 'Satan' means 'accuser', and he is a specialist at that. "Just who do you think you are?", "You're not much of a Christian!", "If people find out what you've done, your public humiliation will destroy you", "How can you be so arrogant to confront them about their sin, considering what you've done?"
So what is the best way to get rid of a black-mailer? Pay him? That's usually the first thing we try isn't it? But you've seen the movie, he's never satisfied, he always wants more and more, the payments never end. So, what can be done to get rid of a black-mailer? Well, obviously, get rid of the secret, confess it, expose it. When you do that, he has no more leverage over you.That, I believe, is one reason God tells us over and over to confess our sins. Once you do, Satan cannot use your secret against you anymore. Do you have a secret sin? Find a godly brother/sister in the Lord who will give you righteous counsel and get that handle off your back!

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

Secrets

God's ways are not our ways. Never have been, never will. And often I realize that my natural inclination is directly opposed to God's wisdom. I sorrow over the death of a godly christian and rejoice at the death of a despot. Whereas God "has no pleasure in the death of the wicked" but the death of a saint is "precious in His sight". It seems to me that to "lose my life" would not save it, and that the servant of all is surely not the greatest of all. No, God's ways are not my ways. There is one particular thing I noticed today that is opposite my natural tendency and I wonder if you are the same way. Secrets. What secrets do you keep and which ones don't you keep? Here is God's take on secrets we should keep:

...when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly...But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Matthew 6:3-4

And His take on secrets we shouldn't keep:

He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy...Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. Proverbs 28:13; James 5:16

Like I said, Backward. Am I the only one, or is it natural to think we are best served to keep our sins secret? God says otherwise. And don't we really want our righteousness, our good deeds, our devotion to God to slip out, not in a big braggy way, but...you know...just so people will know...???

Maybe this week you could join with me in determining to keep the right secrets and not the wrong ones. Find a fellow christian who you can openly confess a secret sin to. Then, do a good deed for someone in complete secret, then secretly go to the Lord in prayer and thank Him for your forgiveness and your reward which will be great!

Good Bones

My sister just bought a house. It is a neat house, on two wooded acres with a pond...but quirky to say the least. The previous owner was an antique dealer so the house is filled with antique doors, knobs, lighting fixtures, leaded glass windows, etc...as I said, neat. The quirkiness is that none of it matches. A metal light fixture from the 30's & a porcelain one from the 60's. A leaded glass window with a striped pickle next to an Anderson casement bay window. She has assured me [and herself I think] though that the house "has good bones". That got me to thinking about bones. Do you have good bones? I believe I do...now. The thing about bones is that no-one can see them [unless you've been dead a while or are seriously injured] so you can dress up the outside and be hiding rotten or diseased bones on the inside. So, what causes bad bones? Lets' listen to King David, who knew a thing or two about bone rot.

There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your anger, nor any health in my bones because of my sin. Psalm 38:3

Why did he say there was no health in his bones? Because of his sin. We all know about David's notorious sin, but don't forget that we know because God told us. If you lived during David's lifetime, you likely would have had no idea [unless you were Joab]. Do you have sin, hidden sin, that eats at your spiritual bones like termites on a floor joist?

For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away. Psalm 31:10

What a description of guilt and regret eating away at the structure of a man who outwardly was a man's man. A king to be respected and feared. There was no joy in the eyes of that smiling man. His sighs were heavy, his energy, his zest for life, was drained out like forgotten headlights drain a battery. And, he says, "my bones waste away".

When I kept silence, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. Psalm 32:3

He was groaning inwardly and it was making his bones old. Can you relate? The weight that just never seems to go away? How can you bring back health to your bones? Notice what David identifies as a cause here. "When I kept silence"...We all commit sin, we will never escape that. What we can refuse to do though, is to keep silent. This secrecy is Satan's trick. If you keep it secret, if you keep your sin hidden beneath the sheetrock, paint, & wall paper, behind the couch or the entertainment center of your life, it will rot your bones.

I think the new house has great potential to be something special someday, with lots of work. Because visible, quirky, ugly and even serious problems can be fixed...if you have good bones.