River Of Forgiveness

Read: 1 John 1:5-9

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

The Bible In One Year:
1 John 1-2

According to Greek mythology, King Augeus owned a stable with 3,000 oxen. Their stalls had not been cleaned out for 30 years --- hence our English word Augean, which refers to something exceedingly filthy from long neglect. Hercules, the mythical strong man, was commanded to clean the Augean stable in a single day.

When Hercules first saw the stable, he was dismayed by its size, filthiness, and stench. Then he noticed that it was located between two great rivers, the Alpheus and the Peneus. He put his great strength to work and diverted the rivers so they flowed through the building. Within a short time the stable was rinsed clean.

The story is a myth, of course, but myths by their very nature preserve the yearnings of the cultures that embrace and perpetuate them. The store reflects, I believe, our own longing for someone to wash from our lives the accumulated waste and filth of the years.

There is a powerful river of forgiveness that flows from the cross of Christ. No defilement, even though Augean, can withstand its cleansing flow. When we humbly confess our sins, all of our unrighteousness is washed away [1 John 1:9]. We can be sure that our "sins, which are many, are forgiven" [Luke 7:47]. --- David Roper

Lord, give me courage to confess,
To bare my sinful heart to Thee;
Forgiving love You long to show
And from my sin to set me free. --- D. De Haan

CONFESSION TO GOD ALWAYS BRINGS CLEANSING FROM GOD.