I read this beautiful passage of Scripture this morning and just had to share!
"And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." Luke 1:76-79
The child is John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Jesus is the sunrise, giving light to those of us who sit in the darkness, in the shadow of death. The imagery is incredible. As I sat on my floor, meditating on these verses, I considered this devotional I had just read about confession. It talked about how we often think we have no control over our thoughts, and the sinful ones begin to eat away at our hearts. When we are in this state of mind, we are in the darkness. Even if we know Jesus, we are wasting away in the shadows of death, from which He rescued us. We are free and yet, in our laziness and desire for comfort, we choose to sit in these dark places.
Confession is the door out into the sunshine. My thoughts may be cloudy and dark, and I see no way out, but as soon as I name my thoughts for what they are (sin), Jesus offers me a way out into His peace.
"This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." 1 John 1:5-10
Our thoughts are powerful. Our thoughts cannot save us, as some people think. Even if we train our minds to think positively, apart from Christ our thoughts will still naturally tend toward a dark, twisted path. Jesus alone can save. Jesus can transform our thoughts. We have only to confess, and His peace will come.
