(Phyllis Frick)
This spring, I have been challenged on the topic of repentance. It was one of those situations where I found myself seemingly confronted with the topic at every turn. It popped up more than once in my Bible App, which provides a verse of the day. It surfaced in my group study, especially in Nehemiah. And it again appeared at various places in the study on Matthew. It was a bit like the billboard you keep seeing over and over and over again. The repeated returns to this topic prompted considerations about repentance, including how I repent, of what do I repent, how does my repentance line up with what I’m learning, and what does a fuller and deeper repentance look like.
I mulled over the various passages and teachings that kept confronting me. I thought on them, and began to incorporate more intention into the time of repentance in my daily prayer life. It wasn’t that I wasn’t confessing, but it seemed the Lord was pointing me to a greater depth of understanding in this practice. As I looked back at my notes, the spring devotions, and some of my additional study, there are a few things that really stood out. These are the things that I really want to remember and apply.
Firstly, repentance recognizes the holiness and faithfulness of God. It is not just turning away from sin, but it’s a turning back to our God. We are not to sit and stew on our sin, but to turn from it, toward Jesus who is full of pity, love, and power. Repentance draws us to relate to Jesus in greater dependence, and it paves a pathway for the gospel of grace to permeate and shine into the deepest places of my heart. On Day 6 of the program, Ben shared this: “He stands ready, even now, to bring the light of his Gospel into your heart, to dispel from it the gloomy darkness”.
Additionally, and significantly, sincere repentance is specific repentance. It’s bluntly honest. And it’s possible because God holds more grace and more forgiveness with more generosity than I can ever humanly conceive. Repentance was at the heart of the ministry of Christ, because we are a people strongly in need of it. It’s ongoing. As long as we have breath, we have this need.
I am thankful for the wise teachings on repentance that the Lord provided me this spring. I am thankful for how He stitched them together across the varying avenues of my life. I am thankful for how He is changing me, and making me new, and how He is making me more alive in Him, every day.
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An audio version of each devotion will be posted on our church podcast “Life Together at CRPC,” which is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.