“This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.” –1 John 1:5-7 NLT
One of my most costly mistakes was all due to a cover up. I was in a hurry and company was arriving shortly. Somehow I managed to spill orange juice or coffee (can’t remember which it was anymore) on our dining room table. I swiftly grabbed a handful of paper towels and put them over the spill to absorb it and then threw a table cloth over that and a strategically placed vase and fake flower arrangement so the puffiness from the paper towels wouldn’t show. The table looked perfect once again.
And then I forgot I’d done that and ignored that part of the table for a couple of weeks. By the time I got around to changing the table cloth, a huge disaster awaited me. I pulled off the tablecloth after removing the vase and saw my cover-up. Dried up stained paper towels. As I went to pull them off … the veneer on my expensive dining room table came with the paper towels. I mean huge chunks of the top layer of the table. Yes. Ruined. Ugly for life. ARGH!! All because I wanted my dining room to “look perfect” for company and then moved on.
John urges us in 1 John to live in the light, not in darkness. It’s not easy to step into the light. Light exposes the flaws. We prefer cover ups and appearances over the messiness of reality. And yet … when we expose what is wrong in us and bring our authentic broken selves from our spiritual darkness into the light of His saving love … we are healed, restored, saved. A temporary cover-up doesn’t hold a candle to an honest cleansing and fixing of ourselves.
So. Let’s confess our sins quickly and be forgiven. Let’s be real about our needs and concerns, telling the truth about the state of our emotions and hearts. We aren’t always “fine, thank you” – sometimes we’re sad, mad, confused, hurt, and troubled. If we want the genuine Christian fellowship John talks about, we need to be transparent about who we are. I’ve found that the best friendships and the closest relationships are the ones where I can be me without pretense. We all struggle. We all sin. We all need His saving grace. Let’s step into the light of His love without fear. He’s waiting. John teaches us to do this in his letter: “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” (I John 1:8-9).
My table still has its scars from my failed attempt at fake perfection. It’s a great reminder to me that hiding things is futile. And sometimes very costly. Let’s choose to step into the light!
Father God, thank You for expensive lessons that teach me to be real. Thank You for loving me as I am, helping me be honest about my sins and needs for forgiveness, and for letting me live without pretense. It’s wonderful to be fully free in You. I am so grateful for Your love. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.