Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Christ’s Presence with “the Outcast”

Riya Varughese
St. Andrews MTC, NY

8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

“God is light; in Him there is no darkness (5)” God is pure and Holy. We say it almost daily when we say the Lord’s prayer “Hallowed be thy name” yet we often have a hard time walking in the light with God. It easy for us to “claim we have fellowship(6)” with him thinking that fellowship is just giving our itemized list of requests to God and expecting Him to fulfil all our requests. However, having fellowship with God requires having a relationship with Him which involves prayer – both talking and listening to God – as well as meditating on the Word of God.

When we “walk in the light” and have fellowship with God, we are promised forgiveness of sins. Even though this promise is given, sometimes it’s hard for us to admit that we have a problem, that we are sinners and need to repent and turn to God. It’s easier to just walk in the darkness and continue on our sinful ways. As the quote goes “The first step to solving your problem is admitting you have one." We must admit and accept that we are sinners. Yet after we have done this, there is no point in asking for forgiveness of a sin and then doing the same sin again and again, thinking that all we need to do is ask God for forgiveness over and over again and then repeat this cycle, not making a conscious effort to stop repeating this vice. In some ways this can be seen as taking advantage of God’s promise. If this is the case then we have not accomplished anything. Here we claim to be walking with God but in reality we are fooling ourselves.
When we admit that we have sinned and ask God for forgiveness then we are promised that our sins will be forgiven; however, we must not stop here, we need to make a conscious effort to not take advantage of God’s promise to us and at the same time build our relationship and have fellowship with Him.

PRAYER

Dear God, enable us to strengthen our relationship and fellowship with You. We confess that we have sinned against You. Lord, we ask that You forgive our sins and help us to walk in the light with You. Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
“I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:32

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