Skip to main content

Repentence


“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning” 
Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. (Joel 2:12-13)

 As usual, definitions matter. For some, repentance is all about tears, sackcloth, and ashes. Some would say it fits well with rending your heart. Too often, it seems more about rending your garments. If a person expresses deep sorrow about a sin, we tend to assume that they’re sorry and they’ll never do it again. Sometimes, they are sorry they got caught. Sometimes, they are embarrassed. Sometimes, it’s all part of a show. And yes, sometimes they are genuinely sorry. Only God knows. And He knows that I’ve done my share of “I’ll never do it again, Lord” and I do it again, and again. 
The keys to repentance seem to be in the heart, which means when Joel wrote about it, that it was about the will, not about one’s feelings. Don’t misunderstand. It’s not a cold, calculated thing. God tells us to return with all our hearts, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Most of the time, repenting does lead to sorrow. It has to do with our response to our separating ourselves from God and being separated should break our hearts. We should not return to God in pride. But I believe it’s possible for repentance to produce joy. If the thing that has separated you from God has been a burden you thought you could not escape, and you learn something that changes your thinking about that thing, that frees you; you can turn toward God without a speck of sorrow. 
There are also times when we repent or change our thinking, that doesn’t involve turning to God. We can turn from hurts we’ve caused others and repent toward them. That’s a good thing, too, but if that person is going in the wrong direction, and we turn toward them, we may be turning away from God. 
There’s some wisdom needed in the act of repentance. It requires that we gain some insight that reveals to us the need to change our thinking. We need to be aware of the corruption, and of what separates us from God in our lives. Repentance is a soulical thing – it involves every part of us. Being sorry isn’t’ enough. Bowing to the dictates of God, or others, isn’t enough.  It requires that we change for the better. That takes thought and wisdom.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more