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Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my father who is in heaven. Matthew 10:32 (KJV)
Also, I say unto you, whoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: Luke 12:8 (KJV)
These are two passages written in the gospel accounts of the ministry of Jesus Christ. He said the words from Matthew to the disciples as he sent them out. Luke records words Jesus spoke to a multitude of people.
Have you ever wondered what it means to confess? We hear of people confessing to breaking laws. In that sense, it means to admit to a wrong. However, when we read it in God’s word, it has a different meaning: to acknowledge something.
How can we acknowledge Christ in our 21st Century world? We do this through belonging in and participating in (as much as we can) a local church. We stand for Jesus by praying for those who hurt, struggle with issues and those who have lost their way.
When we acknowledge or confess our own needs to Jesus, He can then take that problem from us and either resolve it or guide us through to the outcome He wants us to achieve.
In both of these passages, Jesus uses the phrase, “Before men.” How can we acknowledge that we belong to Christ to others? I try to tell the cashiers and the sack persons at our local grocery store to be blessed as I depart the check-out line. This store is a very busy place. And I am aware that these workers deal with all sorts of people while doing their jobs. Sometimes, certain ones thank me for my words.
I used to ask the women who helped me at the pharmacy if they had to work on the upcoming weekend. Sometimes, I would ask how late they had to work that day. I say ‘used to’ because the ones I came to know are no longer there.
It came to me as I wrote this that I have a new set of women to let know that I care about them and desire to have them blessed by God.