Cruddy Creek
At Upper Trestles the creek is usually blocked by sand so it cannot empty into the ocean. It forms a pond and this pond ranges from murky to nasty depending on what’s being fed into it from upstream. In the spring of 2023 we had tons of rain bringing lots of stuff downstream. In September a thick green carpet of scum emerged on the surface of the pond. Incredibly, the green carpet grew and grew up the creek as far the eye could see.
This winter we have had a couple big rains and the creek reopened! All the crud emptied into the ocean and disappeared. The creek became crystal clear again. The fish and birds returned. All was right at Uppers again!
It dawned on me that when I don’t confess my sins to God, my soul and life get all plugged up and cruddy like the creek was in September. After I confess, all that gets cleared out and God separates me from my sin “as far as the east is from the west.” Psalm 103:12
How do we confess?:
Name our sin. Tell God all the wrong things we have done or thought.
Tell Him that we are sorry for doing them and that we intend to not do them any more. (This is called repentance. The image is of doing a 180 degree turn and moving away from our sin.)
Believe this verse from 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Trust that if we confess our sins, God will forgive us–no matter how heinous. He loves us, so confess often. There is no limit to how frequently we can confess.
Hope this helps bring you closer to Jesus! Now, go get some waves!