The Cover Up

 Artwork by Lauren Anderson

I Peter 4:8, "Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins." NLT

Genesis 9:20-27, "Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness. When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. So he said,“Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants he shall be to his brothers. He also said, “Blessed be the LORD, The God of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant. “May God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.” NASB

I've always been a firm believer in the story of Noah's sons who covered his sin because they loved their father. This story has been on my heart a lot because of a meme I happened across some time back. The meme read: People tend to get MORE angry at the cover-up than the mistake. Personally, I find the two sayings to contradict one another. Scripture says that love covers sins (or mistakes if you choose to refer to it that way), but the meme seems to imply that people get angry at what scripture calls right, covering sins. What I see in Genesis 9 is that Noah cursed his son who exposed his sin. Yes, Ham exposed his dad's sin to his brothers. The two sons who covered him were blessed for their action.

What the Lord has been revealing to me through the scripture (and through the meme) is the difference between Him and people. See, God loved us so much that he died, and His blood COVERS our sins. He doesn't expose our sins to the world; He covers them. This is called Grace, and we are to be like Him. We are to love one another. If you love, you cover...not expose. This to me is proof of love. I can't go around telling people about another person's sins that I may happen to know about and then turn around and say that I love that person. Yesterday's message at church confirmed what God had been saying to me about all this.

I almost always sign off my blog by saying be blessed and be made whole. This message is one of the things God has been revealing to me about how I am to be blessed, and if it works for me, it works for you too. Be like Noah's two sons who covered his sins and were blessed as a result of it. As Christians we are not to go around revealing the sins of others, even if their sin is against us. That may not be the easiest thing to do, especially when you've been severely wronged, but it will bring with it a blessing. I don't know about you, but I want God to bless me and make me whole.

Be blessed and be made whole ;-) ,

Schledia