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But the Israelites said to the LORD, "We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now." Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord. And he could bear Israel's misery no longer.
When God's people realized the depth of their sin and their impending punishment by God, they repented and asked for his help. They didn't try to diminish the gravity of their sin. Instead, they threw themselves on the mercy of the LORD and his graciousness. Unfortunately, today, we often hide, avoid, rationalize, deny, blame, or skirt the seriousness of our sins. We don't like to admit them, much less confess them, and we sure don't seem to turn away from them. "It's not really all that bad. I know a lot of folks who do a lot worse things than I did," people often rationalize. As Jesus' followers, we must not view confession of sin as humiliation or weakness. Acknowledging our sins and asking for God's forgiveness, cleansing, and power open the door for him to use us mightily if we will look to him for our rescue and let him not only forgive us, but forgive us of all of our unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9).
Forgive me, Heavenly Father, for my sins. Please eradicate them from my life with the help of your transforming and purifying Spirit as I offer myself daily as a holy and living sacrifice to you. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@verseoftheday.com.