Do you remember some time in your childhood when you did something you should not have done? And do you remember not wanting to be caught? Most parents at some point or another have scolded a child, "You better tell me the truth - it will be a lot better for you if you go ahead and confess it." All of us have sinned, done things we shouldn't do, and then hoped and even prayed we wouldn't be caught. It seems life would be so much easier if we could just push it under the rug and forget about it. But - the floor is still dirty under the rug.
I remember clearly shooting my brother in the behind with a bee-bee gun. I was 5 and he was 3, and to be honest - I really didn't think it was going to hurt him like it did. Yet, I knew immediately I shouldn't have done it. And I tried to act like I didn't do it. The guilt stayed with me, however, and I ended up confessing years later. Mom was understandably very angry - even more so because I had lied about it all those years (5 to be exact). I realized I should have confessed much earlier.
As we prepare for Easter during this season of Lent, one of the things we can do is confess. It's important that we think about where we have sinned (either actively or passively), to ask God for forgiveness (and another if we have harmed another), and to commit to head in a different direction. In Matthew 4:17, Jesus began his ministry by saying we are to repent. To repent means to turn in the opposite direction. When we have sinned, we should confess and ask God to help us head in the opposite way.
Confession is not an easy thing. It means we have to deal with circumstances we would rather avoid - but it is truly the way that leads us along the path of Jesus and towards the celebration of Easter.
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