“Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty! ”

—Psalm 32:2 

Without a doubt, one of the great blessings of being a Christian is that God gives His children second chances. He knows we’re not going to be flawless. Even when we’ve failed miserably, He gives us the opportunity to put it all behind us. And He can dramatically turn things around.

When it comes to the subject of sin—something that, unfortunately, we’re all very familiar with—we have two ways to approach it. We can confess it for what it is, turn from it, and know the happiness of being forgiven. Or we can try to conceal it and then ultimately know the misery of being found out and reaping what we’ve sowed.

The devil is cunning. He knows how to present sin so that it has a certain appeal. And because of the short-term pleasure that sin offers, many people don’t think of the long-term repercussions. But make no mistake about it. The Bible warns that our sin will find us out (see Numbers 32:23). Sometimes it happens immediately. And sometimes it happens after a period of time.

When the people of Israel were preparing to cross the Jordan River and take possession of the land God had promised them, Moses posed this challenge from God: “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life so that you and your descendants might live!” (Deuteronomy 30:19 NLT).

“Choose it,” God was saying. “You can walk with Me, or you can walk away from Me. You can live, or you can die.”

We have a choice in the matter. It’s amazing that some people would consciously choose death. But that is essentially what we do when we choose to go against God and His Word.