Halloween. Tis the season for costumes. Sometimes it is fun to change into a costume to represent or pretend to be something that you are not. We cover up who we really are to be something we are not. Do you remember some of your favorite costume as a kid?
Everyone has something they want to change. Some want to change their appearance, others, situation in their life, and others bad habits. When it comes down to it changing is difficult. Change might excite you or scare you to death.
Since this week is the holiday to horrify, I have something shocking to tell you: YOU CANNOT CHANGE!! Think about it. It is true. Sorry to burst your bubble, but you cannot change. Alone. As hard as you try you cannot change on your own. It takes supernatural help to make lasting and permanent change. It takes the hand of God.
God is a God of change. Though interesting enough the Bible says, “I do not change.” [Mal.3:6] How is this possible? How can God be a God of change if He does not change Himself? God is the only One who can help us change things in our lives. When we open the lids of our souls and allow Him in He will change us from the inside out. Sure I can change things in my life, but only God can bring about lasting and permanent change. Without Christ and His salvation we are just trying, trekking and tweaking superficial change. What we need is supernatural change. Only Christ can give us the capacity to change. He changes us by gives us the power and desire to change.
Look at the caterpillar. It is the picture of change. It can do everything within its power to become a butterfly, but it cannot do it on its own. It must die first and be reborn as a butterfly. That is the miracle of metamorphosis. When we give ourselves over to Christ, we die to ourselves and we now have the power to change from inside out. Unlike the caterpillar whose metamorphosis ends as a butterfly, our change doesn’t end with Christ. Our changing just begins. We have to deal with other issues. We have to uncover many of the secretive areas of our life.
You see we are masters at keeping areas of our lives covered and unchanged. Like the vendors in big cities who sell Foakleys, Fo-purses, Fo-jewery, and Fo-movies, we can become Fo-Christians who model Christ-likeness on the outside, but on the inside we are dirty rotten sinners. We have all lived lives like that before. We show one thing, but reality we are another. Yet we cannot cover up for long.
What we cover, God uncovers. You might have heard it said that “Sooner or later your sins will find you out.” [Num.32:23] Like a celebrity tabloid your dirt will be revealed. Proverbs 28:13 says, “He who conceals his sin does not prosper…” Nothing good comes from covering up our sin. If we try to cover it up we will never discover the life God wants us to live.
We are good at playing the cover up game. Some play the blame game always blaming someone else for your sins. Your parents get the blame for not holding you enough as a baby or treating you fairly as a teenager. Your coaches, teachers, and friends get the blame for your junk. It is never your fault. After we blame others, we invite others to cover up with us. We search for people who will sympathize because they are covering up their sin too. 
We surround ourselves with friends who convince us that what we are doing is not wrong. Everybody is doing it. Like a 3-legged race you cover up your sins together. The Bible calls these sort of friends, “fools.” Then we ultimately lie: to God, others and ourselves. Our lives become a lie. And your lies will get exposed. God puts lie detectors in our lives to expose our sin.
When we cover ourselves in sin, we cover ourselves in darkness [1 Jn.1:5-10]. We cannot walk in the light. We stumble and fall over our sin. It is time to step in the light. What we cover, God uncovers. But that is the first half of the verse. Aren’t you glad that God doesn’t leave us hanging there? Proverbs 28:13 goes on to say, “…but whoever confesses and renounces [sins] finds mercy” That is good news.
What we uncover, God covers. The word “confess” means, to agree with God about your condition. It is saying, “I see that I am a sinner.” It is telling the truth to God. God is not surprise, “You did what!?” Of course God already knows that you are a sinner, but He enjoys it when His children admit it.
It does not stop at confession. We must “renounce” our sin. In other words we are to leave it behind, turn from it, walk the other way, chose the Light, repent. This is the moment God does His supernatural changing work inside of you. When we uncover our junk the blood of Jesus covers our sin [1 John 1:8-10]. He covers us with His mercy and forgiveness.
When we live in the light God uncovers our blemishes, like a newscaster without makeup on TV. When we stop surrounding ourselves with sinful sympathizers, we now have faithful followers who want to help us walk in the light. The more I walk in the light the more I want to be around people who challenge me, confront my sin, pray with me and encourage me to follow Christ the One who changes completely. This is why I love the church!
We are often afraid to uncover sin in our life because we do not think the support will be there to care and help us change. Or we think we cannot encourage or confront another persons sin because I struggle with sin so deeply too. These are lies from Satan to keep us from changing or encouraging others to change.
I think of King David, he had all the means and money possible to keep his sin covered. He slept with another man’s wife, and murdered the husband to cover up the now impregnated woman. There is a great cost to covering up our sin, but great benefits to uncovering it.
David was challenged by Nathan to uncover his sin. David could have killed Nathan on the spot to keep the snowball of sin going to the mountain, he could have smooth talked his way out of the situation, but rather he submitted. He listened. He received the truth, confessed and repented. He began the journey of walking in the light. God covered David with His mercy, forgiveness, and more. David went on to be Israel’s most godly and revered kings.
Listen to David’s response [Psalm 32:3-5]. Have you ever been Nathanized? When I am with our, in the Word, under our pastor’s teaching, with my godly friends, and with my wife I am Nathanized. They challenge me to live in the Light.
Are you inconsistent with church or personal Bible study because you are afraid of changing in Christ? Do you hang around sinful sympathizers to cover up your sin and keep your junk and funk from God? The key to change is: uncovering your sin and allowing God to cover it in His mercy. Confess and renounce your sin today.
