AUGUST 6, Psalm 32:5

Wee Kiat paced his room. For a couple of days, he had meant to confess something to Mom. It became harder to do each day he kept putting it off. “I’ve got to tell her,” he thought with a sigh, so I might as well do it and get it over with.

When Wee Kiat reached the kitchen, he saw that the refrigerator was pulled away from the wall. Mom was kneeling behind it with a bucket of soapy water and a scrub brush. “What are you doing?” Wee Kiat asked. Mom looked up. “I’m trying to get rid of all this dirt that’s collected on the floor back here,” she said. “It’s been hidden behind the refrigerator so long that it’s really hard to scrub off.” She got up and stretched.

Wee Kiat took a deep breath. “I… I have to tell you something.” He hesitated. “Remember when my Sunday school teacher called me last week? He reminded me about a class project on Saturday morning. I wanted to go to a basketball game instead, so I told him you were sick and I had to stay home and help you.”

Mom frowned and Wee Kiat hurried on. “Then last Sunday, I was really sick, so I didn’t go to church and didn’t see any of the kids on Sunday, and… well, in school on Monday, Noah gave me a get-well card for you and me from my Sunday school class. I didn’t know what to do, so I took it, but I told him you’re fine now.” Wee Kiat held out the card.

“Well, you’d better call Noah right away!” Mom exclaimed. She looked at the card, and then she pointed to the floor. “The longer I let this scum hide behind the refrigerator, the worse it will get.” Wee Kiat looked thoughtful. “It’s the same with sin--such as your lie,” continued Mom. “The longer you waited to confess it, the more difficult it became to do that, right? You lied, and then the problem grew bigger when you took that card. You’ll have to repay the money for the card.” With a sigh, Wee Kiat nodded. “That’s after you confess what you did and apologise to them,” Mom added sternly.

“Okay, Mom,” murmured Wee Kiat. “I will, and I have confessed it to God.”

Thought: Have you ever told a lie and then had to keep lying to hide the truth?

Prayer: Father in Heaven, I know I need to confess lies—or any other sin—to You, and there are times when I need to confess to others, too. That’s usually hard to do, but please, Lord, help me not to wait. The problem will not just go away, and in fact will become worse. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.