The Avoidance Technique

Gen 38 Jacob’s son Judah recalls his part in selling Joseph to Ishmaelite traders, and every time he was in the presence of Jacob, he remembered his part but failed to acknowledge it. Unconfessed sin tears at our hearts, and if we fail to acknowledge it, we seek ways to avoid it, which is what Judah did.

He left home and family to stay with a pagan named Hirah. Hirah was no friend, but when we in sin, we are blind and deaf to God’s call. Unlike the Prodigal who admitted, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you,” Judah became a master of the avoidance technique.  [Luke 15:18]

He met a Canaanite daughter, married, and fathered three sons, two of whom God killed because of their wickedness. Avoiding confession of sin has its consequences. Stubborn Judah has yet to acknowledge his sin and, like us, seeks to cover it up with actions, deeds, and even self-justification. He had promised his third son to his daughter-in-law, Tamar, but failed to fulfill that promise. Instead of confession, he added to his grief through sexual solicitation with her. God has a way of revealing our sins, and even though God does not excuse her deceit of prostitution, He uses that to cause Judah to acknowledge that she was more righteous than he.

Where are you carrying a past sin and have failed to acknowledge it to God?