Matthew 6:33
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you

I have said this before, but I really do believe God uses anything and everything to sanctify us which is always pointing us to Him and His word. I learned a thing from my dog Leo, who is ultra obedient. That is when we stumble, or we make a mistake we should not move away from our Master, but run towards Him.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If Leo ever does something I disapprove of, he instinctively comes right to me, he immediately sits at attention looking at me, telling me that he knows I disapproved or that he made a mistake. It doesn’t take yelling or chasing him ever, he just does this naturally. He acknowledges that he made a mistake and that’s the end of it.

Sadly, we as human beings struggle with our pride. We naturally stumble, make mistakes, we get out of line, yet our first instinct is to cover it up as if our Master, God the Almighty, did not see it. In a fallen state, we believe some or most of our sins stay covered up, as if God overlooked them, and the only accountability we will face is from our peers who may or may not deserve our respect.

If you have been born again, you realize the ever watching eye of God and His grace to forgive you of a sin. So instead of running away from God, we should be doing as Leo does with me, we should immediately run to Him, and confess to our iniquities. God is quick to forgive if you weren’t aware. If you believe Jesus paid your sin debt on the Cross, you have been forgiven. But this does not mean we do not continue to confess our sins.

Some false teachings will claim this is a “work” or this confession is not needed…NO! Because we aren’t confessing any longer to be saved, we are confessing to strengthen our relationship with God in the process of sanctification. If you are a part of God’s family, He is your eternal Father now. He has set you apart in His Son Jesus Christ who paid the ultimate price on your behalf to make you part of His family.

Like every relationship, your life IN Christ grows and it matures. Jesus is not your “buddy”, He is not your equal, He is your KING. A King which deserves your utmost and highest respect always and your obedience. If you get out of line, if you stumble, run to Him, don’t run away from Him. Confess your sins in sorrow, ask Him to help you from re-committing that sin. Don’t think He does not see what is going on, or that you are on your own. Again, you are apart of His family, the church!

As a Roman Catholic at one time, I really never understood this relationship because I never really had one with Jesus Christ. My confession was to a priest who I had thought worked on my behalf. I praise God that He showed me this was NOT the case. A Christian is permitted to go directly to the KING, there are no mediators before Him as Catholicism would teach. We confess our sins directly to the High Priest, Jesus Christ, who is always interceding on our behalf!

Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Remember, we are ONLY perfect IN Jesus Christ, not on our own. We will stumble, we will make mistakes, and fortunately there is never-ending unconditional grace and mercy with God. We couldn’t out-sin that grace if we tried, but why would anyone even desire to try?

Again, a saved sinner is not confessing their sins to be saved or to keep their justification in tact, Jesus paid your debt, we confess to strengthen our relationship with Him, to grow and mature in obedience in Him, to really realize that His name now is your name now and with that comes the respect Jesus Christ the Lord God Almighty always deserves from you.

So RUN TO THE KING! Don’t run away! He will always lead you to green pastures and your relationship will grow!