Therefore confess your sins
to each other and
pray for each other so that
you may be healed.
The prayer of a righteous person
is powerful and effective.
I want to focus on this verse for a second time. Why? Because so many of us want to be "healed."
So what do you hear when I say "healed."
Most of us hear, "no more cancer." We hear an end to back pain, a relief from arthritis, and a freedom from blindness, lameness, and irritable bowel syndrome. Isn't that what you heard?
And isn't that what Jesus did? The blind saw. The lame walked. And even the dead were raided. "Healing"! Right?!
God does have an answer for that. Sometimes it happens for believers on earth. Sometimes it doesn't. We have to trust God that he knows what he's doing ... even when we think we'd do it differently. We have to trust that God ultimately has a better plan. And we have to trust that this kind of healing will ultimately and permanently happen for believers when we reach heaven!
But -- and please hear this -- there is one kind of healing that God is ALWAYS willing to work here on earth. What is it? Spiritual healing! The physical will pass away. This sinful, physical world will come to an end. But the spiritual transformation can begin now!
That's the permanent healing that this verse talks about ... and can start right now. Therefore the Apostle tells us to "confess your sins to each other ... so that you may be healed."
Do you see the promised spiritual healing?
We are in bondage to sin ... and therefore to death. When we confess our sins, when we truly repent, we are set free spiritually.
But the Apostle adds on more consideration: "Tell others about your sin! Confess to one another!"
Ouch!!!
But why? Because sin is like a vampire. It lives in the dark. But when we bring it into the light -- and when we let others help us carry the burden -- then we break sin's stronghold on our lives.
Satan likes to whisper: "You're the only one who's done this. No one else will ever understand. Lock this away. Hide. Lie." And so we live isolated lives.
That's not of God. That's not the Savior's heart ... or hope for you. Rather, heaven years to heal you, saying, "confess your sins to each other ... so that you may be healed."
In Christ's Love,
a guy with lots of garlic
(No Vampires allowed here)
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