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Scripture for the day: 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 Yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
Thought for the day: The word repentance as used in the New Testament has often carried with it the idea of changing your mind. Some preachers have used the analogy of walking down the street and suddenly turning around to go the other way. At one level of thinking that's true and repentance can be seen as the simple decision to go the other way. In the spiritual realm, it means simply turning from the path of sin onto the path of righteousness. But is that really all there is to it or could there be more? As with so many of the things of God, there is a deeper, more powerful meaning behind this idea of repentance.
If I have a bad habit (and I certainly have more than one) and one day decide to change for the good, there is merit in that decision but is that all I've really done; what will be the outcome? Too often we rely on the outward manifestations of a person to tell us something about what's on the inside. Just because I stop doing something I know I shouldn't be doing is no real indication I've made any inward changes. Let me try to give you an example that's much too realistic in the United States. If I'm overweight, which I am, and decide to lose the extra pounds, I may choose one of the thousands of "miracle diets" out there and actually shed those unneeded pounds over the next few weeks and months. But there is a very good chance that, once I've reached my goal, I'll begin to put the weight right back on, and probably more. Why is this so often true? Because I haven't changed my attitude about food. I've changed my habits; my outward actions but I haven't changed how I feel about food or done anything about my true desires. Eventually this lack of inner change will come back to haunt me.
True repentance as preached by John the Baptist and Jesus both, in fact by all the prophets of the Old Testament and every true evangelist and preacher since, has more to do with a change of mind set, not just mind. In other words, if all we do is express sorrow for what we've done and turn to God to ask forgiveness without coming to the place of hating that sin, there is serious doubt as to whether or not we're truly sorry in the Biblical sense. The term we translate as "repent" or "repentance" carries with it the idea that we change the way we think about what we've been doing. It's no longer something I must give up if I'm to make it into heaven. This activity or attitude becomes something I no longer want to do because I've realized the inherent wrongness of it, or because I’ve seen that this focus, though perhaps not wrong in and of itself, isn’t what’s best or what pleases God the most. I must ask myself, "If there were no heaven to gain and no hell to shun, would I still not want to engage in this activity?"
Thank God He can set our hearts right and help us to know the difference between Godly sorrow which leads to true repentance and life and earthly sorrow which leads only to guilt and sorrow. I can honestly say I've never given up anything, good or bad, that hasn't been replaced by something infinitely more satisfying, when I've given that thing up for the right reasons. We should all allow the Lord to search our hearts and purify our motives regarding repentance and obedience. Then we can go on with hearts made pure before God.
Now go take on your world. - Bill