Can guilt be covered up? - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2024

They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
1 Peter 4:5

Can guilt be covered up?
In 1799, English fishermen caught a large shark. In its stomach they found a bundle of papers tied together with a strap. They showed that a ship named Nancy had been carrying contraband. This find was immediately handed over to the competent authority.

At that time, the trial of the crew of the Nancy was in progress. They were suspected of having transported smuggled goods during the war between England and France. Until this find, however, there was no solid evidence because the captain had thrown all the treasonable papers into the sea. How great was his consternation when, on the basis of these documents that had turned up, he was convicted of his guilt.

This man had hoped to escape punishment by removing all the evidence. But this could not make an offence disappear – and certainly not our guilt before God.

In the final pages of the Bible, God shows in figurative language that all evil and wrongdoing is recorded in His “books”. Therefore, no one will be able to escape divine punishment. Only with Jesus Christ is there a way out. He promises: “He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24).

Today’s reading: 1 Samuel 9:15-27 · Psalms 91:9-16