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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.


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