This morning I’m basking in a wonderful truth about God…the real God who is actually there. Not the god who conveniently upholds all my desires & cravings, nor the god of rules who stands waiting before me with a whip…but the God who perfects both truth and love, who models the right path, and fills me with what is needed for me to follow Him this day. He helps me to see behind the veil of appearances of the world I live in. He helps me to recognize the depravities & errors in my own thoughts & feelings, and to choose His better way. He fills me with courage and strength to take a step in that direction…one step at a time.
The verse that’s blessing my socks off this morning is Romans 2:4…that God’s kindness leads us to repentance. Repentance is a wonderful thing, truly a gift from God. He grants us the ability to see when our path is diverging from His, and to make course corrections at any time. We’re never too far away from God that He can’t reach us in a second, never too dark that His light cannot reach us! I don’t know about you, but I’ve experienced countless “repentances” in my life that have put me back on the right track in my relationship with God and His plan for me. I can’t tell you how thankful I am for His great, overarching love and faithfulness!
Repentance” comes from the Biblical Greek word “Metanoia,” which means “change of mind”…or, like in the military, doing an “about face.” Jesus talked a lot about repentance…turning away from the broken promises of the world and following Him instead. In a world that is chronically broken and in-crisis, we don’t make progress by trying to manage or eradicate darkness…but by focusing on God’s light. I repented initially as a teenager many years ago, and He changed the course of my life forever. But there are also smaller-scale course corrections in daily life, that are essential for keeping me in close connection to my Lord. I used to believe that repentance was something we only needed to do once, but in a way it’s a daily thing…an opportunity for us to choose to follow Jesus again this morning, and tomorrow morning, and so on.
This morning I’m praying about what I need to repent of so that I can see & follow Jesus more clearly. How about you?
