Chicken Soup for the Soul

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. – Psalm 32:3&5 (NIV)

As a prank in college, I, along with four of my senior class colleagues, conspired to steal the bell that was stationed at a corner of our college square. After we’d done the deed around 3 a.m. one morning, we delighted in hearing the utter befuddlement and bewilderment that characterized the responses of various students regarded the missing icon.

The plot was a great source of amusement until our senior class voted to contribute a sizable sum for the replacement of the bell. At that point I had to speak up, because I couldn’t rest well with the fact that my senior classmates were going to give good money to replace something that didn’t need replacement, but return.

I went to the class president and told her that the bell would be returned. Of course, I implicated myself … but I was so ready to be free from the guilt that I was happy to sing like a bird.

And I was relieved to deal with the consequences of my actions (which amounted to a stern reprimand; as it turned out, we weren’t the first seniors to pull that prank).

As I look back on the incident, my cover-up was as bad as—or even worse than—my misdeed itself.

Sin is an enticer. But after it entices us … it entangles us.

There is nothing that can free us from our conscientious entanglements like open, honest, full-throated confession. The truth about who we are and what we’ve done—even when we believe that what we did was harmless—is tonic for our souls. 

Prayer
Lord, help us to realize that even though we can live with cover-up and denial … we cannot live well. Amen.

About the Author
Kenneth L. Samuel is Pastor of Victory for the World Church, Stone Mountain, Georgia.