1 John 1:8-9

My devotion this morning from Good Morning Girls were words that we weekly say in the church service as part of our confession. As Lutherans, we don’t have private confession time in little booths to talk with a priest, but instead have public confession. I have a confession about that time.

I wonder how many times I have rattled off these words without thinking of the full implication. Is my mind with God or with the three million things I need to complete once this service has ended. I love the tradition held within these words and the awe inspiring numbers of people who have uttered these phrases, but I fear that I have too often said them without thinking about the weight they hold.

Plus, these words shouldn’t be the confession themselves but instead the explanation for their utterance. How public is the confession when everyone is stating the same words aloud. The Catholic confessional would at least get people to admit their faults and think about the errors they have made.

Besides these brief moments in a church service, I often glide over any errors that could possibly made by me. I try to bamboozle my family into believing any miscommunication, poor manners or mean spirit came from the other party. I am above that. Even in my own ponderings, I can gloss over my errors as I try to convince even myself of my complete innocence.

I stop to ponder over the number of people who have said these words while concentrating on their significance. I think of the millions of people who join me each week and look back at the many years of their use. Pretty powerful stuff rests in these two verses from 1 John. I pray that I will be able to use them with the dignity they deserve.

God Uses Chronic Pain to Prove the Life is Good:

     - I am off work so able to spend an hour or two each morning in devotion time.

www.goodmorninggirls.org