For most of her life, Mary McCarthy had a pain on the right side of her nose, she discovered why after a Covid-19 test made the pain much worse and prompted her a visit to the emergency room. What did they find? Well, they discovered she had a small plastic disc stuck in her nose for 37 years! 

Mary remembered that as a child, she and her siblings would take Tiddlywink pieces and put them up their nostrils, then see how far they would go when they blew them out. One of them had obviously become stuck in her nose. Now 45 years old, Mary is relieved to be rid of the yellow plastic disc. It was something in her past that she had forgotten about, but years later it caused her great pain. 

Sin can be like that. The things we have done in our past can come back and cause us pain. But we praise God that we can ask for forgiveness and our past sins that have caused us pain will be wiped clean. 

In Psalm 86 verse 5, we have this promise, “For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.” 

No matter what we have done in the past, God is ready to forgive, and that is good news. He is so merciful not wanting anyone to perish, but for all to come to repentance. 

Psalm 32:1-5 NCV “Happy is the person whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned. ² Happy is the person whom the Lord does not consider guilty and in whom there is nothing false. ³ When I kept things to myself, I felt weak deep inside me. I moaned all day long. ⁴ Day and night you punished me. My strength was gone as in the summer heat. ⁵ Then I confessed my sins to you and didn’t hide my guilt. I said, “I will confess my sins to the Lord,” and you forgave my guilt.”

We are to confess our sins to God, otherwise there is no forgiveness. It may be difficult, but we must confess all our sins to God no matter how painful that may be. 

“Christ is able to save to the uttermost all who come to Him in faith. He will cleanse them from all defilement if they will let Him. But if they cling to their sins, they cannot possibly be saved; for Christ’s righteousness covers no sin unrepented of. God has declared that those who receive Christ as their Redeemer, accepting Him as the One who takes away all sin, will receive pardon for their transgressions. These are the terms of our election. Man’s salvation depends upon his receiving Christ by faith. Those who will not receive Him lose eternal life because they refused to avail themselves of the only means provided by the Father and the Son for the salvation of a perishing world (MS 142, 1899).^[1]

Proverbs 28:13 (NLT) People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy. 

1 John 1:9 (NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

“Carl Hoefler (Will Daylight Come? [C. C. S. Publishing, 1979]) tells the story of a little boy who was visiting his grandparents. He was given his first slingshot and was having fun playing with it in the woods, but he never hit anything he was aiming at. But on his way home, as he cut through the back yard, he saw Grandmother’s pet duck. He took aim and let the stone fly. To his horror, it went straight to the mark and the duck fell dead.

The boy panicked. He quickly hid the dead duck in the woodpile. Then he saw his smirking sister Sally standing by the corner of the house. She had seen the whole affair.

They went in for lunch. Sally said nothing. After lunch, Grandmother said, “Sally, let’s clear the table and wash the dishes.” Sally said, “Oh, Grandmother, Johnny said he wanted to help you in the kitchen today. Didn’t you, Johnny?” Then she whispered to him, “Remember the duck!” So Johnny did the dishes.

Later in the day Grandfather called the children to go fishing. Grandmother said, “I’m sorry, but Sally has to stay here to help me clean house and get dinner.” Sally smiled and said, “That’s all been taken care of. Johnny said he wanted to help today, didn’t you, Johnny?” Then she whispered, “Remember the duck!”

This went on for several days. Johnny did all the chores, both his and those assigned to Sally. Finally, he could stand it no longer, so he went to his grandmother and confessed all. His grandmother took him in her arms and said, “I know, Johnny. I was standing at the kitchen window and saw the whole thing. And because I love you, I forgave you. And knowing that I loved you and would always forgive you, I wondered just how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.”

Guilt makes slaves of us all. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, they tried in vain to hide from God. Guilt makes us want to hide from His holy presence. It also alienates us from one another. We’re afraid that if others find out what we have done, they will either reject us or use the information to hold us hostage. “Remember the duck!” Because we all have sinned and because God knows all of our sins, even our secret sins, what we all desperately need is the supreme blessing of God’s forgiveness.” [2]

The grace of God will forgive us and cleanse us from all sin, only as we confess. What a promise!