I lied!
The pastor said on Sunday "No Jesus = No Joy." Man that's true! It's true of someone who does not have a relationship with Christ because, even though they don't know it, they're fumbling around in the dark trying to make sense of life in any way they know how. BUT, it's also true of a hard-core believer (like me!). Please allow me to tell on myself to prove the point.
I usually spend time with the Lord every morning, pretty much first thing in the morning (years ago Vonette Bright said "Don't face the day until you've faced Jesus...and I've never forgotten it). Anyway, yesterday, from the moment I got up, I continued to find all sorts of reasons to delay my time with the Lord: Watching the news, eating breakfast, checking Facebook, ordering something on Amazon, checking my email, working on my crochet project, ordering something else on Amazon, responding to texts, watching some more news over lunch and then showering for the day. While getting ready upstairs, I realized - or better said 'I was honest with myself' about the reason for the delay (and here's where I'll tell on myself...input "sad face" emoji): I'd concealed a detail from my husband the night before so I wouldn't look bad in his eyes (two details actually). In other words, I lied. But because I had not confessed my sin to God OR to my husband, I had no peace and thus, no joy.
At that moment I remembered King David's words in Psalm 32:3 When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. There was the answer: I needed to confess! But my husband was at the gym. God wasn't though. He was right there with me, waiting for me to be honest so he could forgive me, clean me up and then give me the courage to tell my husband I'd lied to him. And so, with the courage I found from David in verse 5 of Psalm 32, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Finally, joy! Relief! Courage! Now I could hardly wait for my husband to get home.
When he did, I confessed immediately and he graciously forgave me immediately. Once again I felt David's words: Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty (32:1-2)!
Oh...sweet honesty; sweet forgiveness; sweet love AND sweet joy. THIS is what its like to have relationship with Jesus
(And, by the way, if you have something to confess to someone, don't delay; the above verses are true!).