Day 3

Confession & Community (James 5:16)

How are you doing with your fast? Day 3 is, typically, the TOUGHEST day! If you’re fasting from food or certain types of food this is the day the brain and the body say, “Okay what are you doing? We’re experiencing some withdrawal here!” But stay with it. You’ll feel 100% better in just a little while. Keep praying. Keep pressing. Keep trusting. God is going to do great things!

One of the reasons we said fasting is imperative for the believer is that fasting is a response to what is happening to our hearts. And one of the steps we provided for you is to prayerfully reflect upon the condition of your heart. And for some of us, as we considered the contents of our heart, I’m confident that the weight of sin might’ve arisen. 

I got sin. You got sin. All of God’s children got sin. It is a part of what it means to exist in this broken and fallible world. Sin is in the world and therefore sin is in you and me. And even though when we put our trust in faith Jesus we are freed from the consequences of our sin we will continue to contend with the presence of sin until Christ comes or until we go to be with Christ. It’s a part of life. But it’s about how you respond to it, right? 

What sin has darkened your heart? What trouble is troubling you? What has emerged in your heart that does not honor God? And is this fast making you more aware of this issue? The first response to our sin is usually that of guilt and shame. But in the Cross Jesus bore our shame. If you’ve put your trust in Jesus you are FREE from sin. Hallelujah! So the only issue that remains is whether or not you’ll do with sin what God wants you to do with sin. CONFESS it and move on with your life. 

Confession is a lost discipline in the church. Oh sure we confess our sins to Jesus all the time—I should hope! But confession in Scripture was always communal on some level. And here’s why. When secret sin remains secret, it remains powerful. If nobody knows it—Satan usually grows it. And that is why confession is so crucial for you and me. 

James said in 5:16 that we are to confess our sins TO ONE ANOTHER AND PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER, THAT YOU MAY BE HEALED. Get it? See, when I confess within myself to God alone, that is indeed good. Jesus hears us. He forgives us. He consoles us. But James reminds us that when I also confess my sins to the Christian community healing follows. Have you ever noticed that when you’ve faithfully confessed your sin to a fellow brother or sister in Christ, a pastor, a spiritual leader, and the like, not only do you feel way better, but also stronger? Something has changed. And that something is the power of the secrecy of sin that was over you. The beginning of the end of Satan’s attack in your heart is exposure. When sin is exposed it loosens the grappling effect it has. So James admonishes us to confess with the community God has placed around us. 

Let us go and sin no more — with God’s help. And with the help of the Christian community around us!

Keep Fasting

Ricky