A GUILTY CONSCIENCE

Proverbs 28.1
A GUILTY CONSCIENCE
"The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion."

SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE, THE world-renowned author and creator of Sherlock Holmes, once decided to play a trick on his friends. He sent a telegram to twelve of them with the words, "Fly at once; all is discovered." Within twenty-four hours, not one of them was left in the country!

The starting price of sin is a guilty conscience. And when our guilty conscience haunts us, anything will send shivers down our spine. A man running from the law sees every other man a policeman. Someone in debt thinks everyone he meets his creditor. A fugitive fears every shadow passing by the window and every knock on the door. Guilt makes men a terror to themselves. "Sin makes men cowards," says Matthew Henry.

"Will the evildoers never learn...?" the psalmist asks, "There they were, overwhelmed with dread, when there was nothing to dread" (Ps 53.5). Such is the nature of fear in the evil-doer that "the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight" (Lev 26.36). As such, there is no wisdom in sin nor peace in evil. There is only phobia of all kinds arising from an overworked imagination. Those who seek to harm others will always imagine that others are out to harm them. Life for them becomes a miserable, paranoid existence.

How much better it is to be righteous, keeping a clear conscience before the LORD! Like the lion, the king of the jungle, we walk with our head erect. When we fear God, we need fear no one else. We need not run by day and hide by night. Even when darkness falls, we sleep in peace. As a French proverb puts it, "There is no pillow as soft as a clear conscience." And the English counter-part echoes the same, "A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder."

We should always keep short accounts with God. The confession of sin spring-cleans the conscience. It removes guilt along with guilt feelings. When we are right with God, we find confidence to face the world. In that sense, a healthy and happy conscience is life's most precious possession. If you have it, don't lose it. If you have lost it, recover it at all costs. You won't be able to sleep in peace until you do.

Is my conscience clear right now?