THE JOY OF CONFESSION

What wisdom is there in labouring to achieve a goal yet when it is presented before your very eyes you turn away wanting yet cannot have? Seated on the pew my mind drifts away to my own world of questions and answers. “Why do I come to church? Why did I wake so early leaving the warm bed to come to church? Am I here on a routine to mark the end of another week or is it because those I love associating with are here? Why, why, why do I come to church?” all these questions bang my mind as I look at the overflown congregation and wonder why they too are here.

Some might be here because they love the routine and have been used to it; I am not a lover of routine thus I must be here for another reason. Some gather because their friends are gathered yet others to praise and worship their maker. Of all these I wonder which brings me. Why do I come sing, praise and worship? It surely is not solely for the sake of praising itself but the joy of being at peace in the Lord.

If that is my sweet and noble reason then I pause the answers and ask myself how foolish I am. Is it not the same Christ that I am seeking that the priest presented before my very eyes and instead of rushing to receive Him that I may be in Him I guiltily look away? What difference is there between me and the hired musicians whose motive is just to entertain the guests if I turn down the invitation to share in the goodness of the Lord?

I however reflect on the state of the vessel of my heart and finds guilt of its contents. I myself carry in me a witness of my own faults which are numerous. It is the weight of these that kept me on the set while others went to be with Him. It sounded prudent to sit down my vessel than add the burden by having Him in a corrupt state. But what prudence is there in a young person; the epitome of God’s good creation, refraining from being at peace with God?

Is it my sin or folly that keeps me in the filth of my own deeds? It’s my not sin but foolishness I see that keeps me from God. My sins He is ready to forgive and make the base of my vessel as white as snow if only I turn and repent. Just a step of faith and acceptance of my faults are enough to compel me to seek the face of the Lord. In seeking His face will I repent and by my confession regain the status as His beloved son. Why then don’t I turn y face to the light of His grace and be at peace?

A troubled man I resolve to leave my folly; I will go to my father and ask for pardon and I am sure he will not deny me to be with Him. After the pardon I now feel lighter and at peace. I am now merry heeding the call to receive Him to be in me for I am in Him. All the folly is gone and as my heart sings praise from the depth of my soul to the highest of mountains, I confess how sweet the source of my delight is. Am glad that in Him my soul has found rest and invites other too to taste His kindness and see that He is good.

RITH@.