Momentum: Pursuing God’s Blessings Through The BeatitudesSample

How God Shows Us Our Sins

“When he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin…” John 16:8

The Holy Spirit does this work with a flashlight, not a floodlight. That’s why sanctification is a lifelong process. There are more sins in our lives than any of us is able to see right now.

Reading the Bible is like putting on a pair of glasses. You begin to see what God sees. You get to know what grieves and offends him. Reading the Bible will open your eyes to the sins that lurk in your life.

Imagine walking through a dark basement. There are some hidden treasures in there, but there’s also a lot of junk. There’s a bad smell because some animals got in through a broken window well and died, and they’ve been lying there for a very long time. Because the window wells are still broken, there are some living animals down there too. This is a picture of your soul.

God could show you what’s in your soul by turning on a floodlight. But if he did that you’d be completely devastated. None of us could bear the full knowledge of our sin, if it was revealed to us all at once. God is gracious and kind. He shows us our sins with a flashlight, illuminating hidden things in the dark corners of your soul, so that by God’s grace you can deal with the junk.

When the Bible opens your eyes to particular sins, ask the Lord to show you where these may be lurking in your life. Where have I been insisting on my own way? What is the hurt that I have been holding onto? Where is impatience hiding in my life?

For further reading, see Psalm 139:23-24