They remained standing in place for three hours while the Book of the Law of the Lord their God was read aloud to them. Then for three more hours they confessed their sins and worshiped the Lord their God.
Read Nehemiah 9:1-38. As we reminded ourselves yesterday, if we ever want to change, then we have to move from blaming and complaining about everyone else and the circumstances we face, and confess the problems we bring on ourselves.
Nehemiah and the people of God could have blamed God for exiling them from Jerusalem and placing them under the evil Persian empire. They could have blamed their enemies for enslaving them. But having studied the Book of the Law, they recognised they and their ancestors were the architects of their own downfall. They had no one to blame but themselves. So they confessed their part to God. And life began to change for them.
We too will never be able to change unless we openly, honestly, authentically, and humbly confess our sins, our weaknesses, our faults, and our character defects to God and to others.
When we approach God to tell him about our sins and our weaknesses - everything that’s wrong in our lives - he isn’t surprised. He already knows! But he does want us to confess to him before he can begin his work of change in us.
Why not confess to him today, knowing that his grace and forgiveness are bigger than anything we have ever done in our lives? If we do, then change will certainly follow.
THINK IT OVER
Think about the following:
Do you really want God to change you? If so, what steps are you willing to take to confess to him today?