Time to Confess

"I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the wickedness of their fathers."
Nehemiah 1:6b & 9:2b

I have written about our need to deal with generational sin before. But I am compelled to talk about it again today. Nehemiah was called to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. The people had all been exiled and the city was in ruins. He asked the king, whom he was the cupbearer for, if he would be allowed to go accomplish the task of rebuilding the city. Not only did the king agree, but he gave him resources to accomplish the work. Before Nehemiah started the project, before he even left for Jerusalem, he prayed and confessed his own sin, the sins of his fathers and the sins of the nation of Israel. He knew that this was absolutely necessary before he could accomplish the mission with the blessing of God.
    I have not made a practice of confessing the sins of our nation, but I am beginning to feel the responsibility to do so. I am blessed to live in America, but along with that comes an involvement with the sins we have committed. I believe it is time we confess the sins of the nations we live within. Our fathers have participated in these sins as well. I know that you and I do not know the specific sins our nations have committed, but we still can bring those sins before God. Nehemiah did this, even though he could not name all the sins. So there is a great need for us to confess the sins of our nation, our fathers, and ourselves.
    Nehemiah was a leader. He organized the rebuilding effort so completely that the peoples who lived in the land were amazed. The opposition did not believe it could be done with such efficiency, yet it was. But Nehemiah's leadership started well before any building began. He confessed sins before the project started. This was critical because it set an example for the people to follow. I believe Nehemiah taught the people this principle. Then all the people confessed the sins of the nation, their fathers and themselves. This happened after the walls had been rebuilt. They had leadership, they understood the principle, and they acted accordingly.
    We must learn the principle of confessing before God. We should confess the sins of our nation, the sins of our families before us, and especially our own sins. I am a grandfather, and I am determined to not allow my sins to influence the lives of my children or my grandchildren. I see some of me in my adult kids. Some things are good, others are remnants of my own character flaws or sins. I am overwhelmed with my responsibility to model righteousness and holiness before my family, yet sometimes I fail. This points to my great need to continually lay my sin before God. Only he can truly change me. Only he can forgive me completely. Only he can stop generational sin from reaching into my children, grandchildren, and generations ahead.
    Let us commit ourselves to confess sin before God. He is a God of grace and mercy. He will hear and forgive. Join me in a new commitment to be honest enough with God to confess sin. There is no shame in this, only the promise of blessing to future generations. This truly is the time to confess.