“Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.” (Matthew 3:8 NLT)
Repentance is a multi-dimensional process. Have you ever been on a road trip and well into your journey you realize you are going the wrong way? If you’re adventuresome you may blow it off and keep going, but usually we have a destination and we’re bent on getting there. Repentance is like that.
Many alive today have no clue where they’re headed. They just get up and do what they do, go to bed, then get up and do it all again. Same thing, just a different day. Repentance is looking around and realizing: “Whatever I’m doing isn’t working, so, I’m going to make a change.” To repent means to change your mind, then to change your direction.
No one changes the direction of their life without first changing their mind. You may know intellectually that something is drastically wrong, but until you decide to do something about it, nothing changes. That’s what it means to repent.
It’s a military term that paints the picture of a soldier making an “about-face.” They’re marching in one direction, then, upon command, they go in the opposite direction. What are the implications? Heaven and hell are not reached by going in the same direction. We may reach hell by default, by making no specific decision, simply continuing to do what we’ve always done. But to reach heaven requires an informed decision to yield our life and allegiance to Jesus.
The goal of repentance is to introduce us to Jesus, leading us in the formulation of a new direction in our life, but ultimately to lead us to an eternal home in heaven. We have a new destination – heaven, but the pathway is Jesus. John 14:6 teaches us that Jesus “is the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.”
The Christian life is a purposeful, intentional journey that requires guidance by the Holy Spirit, and focus on Jesus. The logical question then becomes: “How do I get to heaven? What signposts do I look for? How do I know I’m going in the right direction?” The simple answer is: “Follow Jesus!” But in practical terms what does that look like? How can we know for sure we’re following Him and not our own inclinations?
Repentance isn’t a one-time decision, it’s an ongoing heart attitude demanding discipline, flexibility, and a willingness to confess our failures, get up and carry on. Just because we’ve made a decision to allow the Lord to turn our life around, doesn’t mean Satan’s going to stop trying to influence us to follow him. Sin is a very real presence as long as we live, but the Holy Spirit is our constant Friend who will guide and protect us against the enemy of our soul.
Kevin DeYoung wrote: “Repentance is more than a repeated apology.” As a rule, each Jesus follower is plagued by some specific “weight” that becomes for us our “sin of choice.” Often our sin of choice becomes habitual and over time we tend to expect to do whatever it is, even though we know it’s wrong and is keeping us from being fully engaged in our walk with the Lord.
It can, as DeYoung implies, become a repeated action that leads to repeated “apologies” to God. But over time our habitual disobedience to God can become so familiar, rather than repenting (turning from our sin), we begin to embrace it and in some twisted way, believe the Lord is okay with it. He’s not! And until we face the truth that our sin is driving a wedge between us and God, we’ll never repent, put it behind us and move into a consistent life of holiness and devotion to Christ.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 