Do you know what it means to live second? It means that you are not the first priority of your life. There must be something or someone else greater than you that you align your thoughts and actions to. Someone else that you take your cues from, learn lessons from, and organize your life according to their word.
When Jesus called out to men to become His disciples, He simply said, “Follow Me.” He makes the same call to us. But sometimes we have difficulty making Jesus first in our lives. It is not because we do not know Him or His word to us, but because find it so difficult to put ourselves in second place.
That is where Living Second from author Doug Bender comes to our aid. It is a companion to the book, I am Second, which I reviewed in an earlier post. It is a one year devotional to help us live second with Jesus in first place. This week we will be looking at some of the topics in Living Second. Today’s post is about Confession.
Think beyond your first impressions of the word confession. It is recognizing and stating the truth. And the truth is, we have a problem. We have sin in our lives. That sin causes problems for us and our world.
The problem must first be recognized. We must admit that something is wrong. Without this confession, nothing more can happen. (40)
Sometimes we approach confession as the solution to the problem. I messed up. I said something I shouldn’t have. I did something that hurt someone. But confession is not the solution. It helps recognize the fruit of the problem.
Sin is not just what we do, it is an issue with our hearts. We are selfish, prideful, power-hungry, arrogant, not because we act that way, but we act that way because that is within us. Confession is not a band-aid to cover our sins and remove the guilt of them. Instead it invites the billion-candle-power lamp of the Holy Spirit to make the sin issue known so He can help us change in such a way that we will point our lives away from that sin.
The power to change tracks, to move away from sin that leads to death and towards righteousness out of new life, is one of the promises of Living Second. We do not have the power in ourselves to remove sin. It is only available to us in Jesus Christ, and it only comes when we are willing to confess.
Live Second:365 Ways to Make Jesus First is a devotional companion to the book, I am Second, a compilation of stories of real lives changed when they made themselves second to Jesus. You can find out more about the I am Second movement at www.iamsecond.com, including film stories of changed lives and resources for living second. You can also find both books at your favorite book retailer.
Chris MacKinnon 