day no. 16,623: where excuses fail, Christ does not

"Try to keep this continually before your children's minds. Press upon them at all times, that less than the truth is a lie; that evasion, excuse-making, and exaggeration are all halfway houses towards what is false, and ought to be avoided. Encourage them in any circumstances to be straightforward, and, whatever it may cost them, to speak the truth." — J.C. Ryle, The Duties of Parents

The truth will set you free. Evasive language is an attempt to free yourself from the consequences of truth. But the only thing that can save you from the truth is the Truth. The only way to the Father is the Way. The only life to be had is in the Life of God. Excuses do not atone for sin. (John 14:6).

Sin is inexcusable, but by the grace of God is not unforgivable. If an excuse will suffice, forgiveness is not needed. But where excuses fail, Christ does not. Exaggerations cannot increase your merit. An embellishment only increases the distance between you and righteousness. You cannot exaggerate your way across the chasm of sin. Only Christ can cross the cavern and provide a bridge between sinful man and an holy God. 

The problem with lies is not that they try to cover up sin, but that they cannot adequately cover it. In other words, it isn't that lies cover sin, it's that they don't. Sin must be covered, but lies cannot do the trick. An ol' fashioned cover-up cannot keep sin under wraps. Only Christ can cover sin. Your sins do need covering. The impulse to hide them is correct, but the instinct to hide them somewhere else is not. It not only fails to cover sin, it creates another sin in need of forgiveness.

By the grace of God, all sins can be forgiven, including the sin of covering your sins somewhere other than Jesus. Confess it as sin and it will be forgiven in Him. You can only hide in Him. Nowhere else are your sins hidden. In Him, God sees only Christ and your sins are completely covered by His blood. So stop trying to hide your sins from God and man and start hiding yourself in God so that you are free to speak of your sins openly, uncondemned before God and man.