Covering It Up

A cover-up is an attempt to conceal evidence of wrongdoing, usually to avoid embarrassment. Politicians cover up their scandals by burying them in lies and abusing the power of their office to escape scot-free. Criminals try to avoid justice by destroying physical evidence that ties them to their crimes and misdeeds.

You and I do it, too. We cover our writing mistakes with opaquing fluid, like Wite-Out (I thought this whole time it was spelled “White-Out”). We apply make-up and other cosmetics to cover our blemishes and improve our appearance. Even young children will stand their ground and deny any association to the lipstick smeared on the bedroom wall while it’s caked on their faces.

Where does the tendency to cover up wrongdoing come from? Why do we go to great lengths to conceal our mistakes? Perhaps the book of Genesis holds the answer. Observe how our first parents reacted when God confronted them about committing the first sin, eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil:

“And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths . . . The man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (Genesis 3:7b, 8b-13).

Adam and Eve attempted to cover up their evildoing by covering themselves (v. 7), hiding from God (v. 8), and blaming everyone else—Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed Satan (vv. 11-13).

Albeit futile, it is within our nature to cover up sin. We try burying our sin in good works that make us feel better about ourselves. We try covering our sin by blaming the culture. We sometimes cover our sin by denying we’ve even committed any.

But God sees all things—His sight is so penetrating that it burns through everything we might use to cover it up (Rev. 1:14). The only cover for sin that is sufficient is the blood of Jesus Christ—the covering God Himself provides (see Genesis 3:21). And the proper response to committing sin is not covering it up—it’s confession: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

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Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.