REPENTANCE

The life Jesus calls for is a life of repentance. Even now he says it, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!” (Matthew 4:17) Every day, He gives us opportunity to reorient to ourselves, to God and the world.

The word we translate from the Greek is metanoia. It derives from a prefix implying change and the root noia which refers to thinking. While repentance occasions regret, the emotional response is not as important as a shift in perspective. Our thought patterns must change if we are to turn away from sin. Repentance brings our souls back to God as we approach on His terms and not our own. In it we reconsider and realize that our way is not so good.

Repentance releases forgiveness. While God paid the price to forgive, those who do not recognize their need or fail to ask for it cannot receive the benefit. Fortunately, we can ask forgiveness because he assures us He wants to grant it. And while hardship and pain get our attention, turning to Him flows from belief that He wants us.

“Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?”                                                                                             -
Romans 2:4

Live every day with open heart and hands, releasing our old ways of seeing and knowing, then receiving His perspectives and peace. Repentance is a lifestyle.

The old has gone, the new has come. Open up. The kingdom is at hand.

Thursday, March 4. March forth! I woke up about 5AM. As I lay in bed thinking, I thought again how deserving I am  of death and hell. I told God I wished he could kill me and then let me come back to life again. I imagined having the breath squeezed from my lungs and becoming aware that I was going to die. I saw my life flash before my eyes and repented of all the evil I had done and of all the good I failed to do.  Then I imagined being dead – asleep and unaware. I imagined being detached from all that is this side of heaven, not caring what goes on here on earth. Then I imagined waking again, realizing I have a fresh start, that the past has passed. No longer identified with the time that has gone before, it does not define me. It does not control me. Rather fresh possibilities abound.  Then I realized it is true. Whenever I step away from myself and into Christ, I become new. If I die daily to self, I live to him. The old has passed away, the new has come.

This morning as I stretched my muscles, it struck me that a good stretch causes real pain. In fact, it seemed to me that I was feeling pain roughly equal to a moderate case of arthritis. Rather than feeling bad, however, the pain seemed good. I had control and could back off from it at any time.

I know that while a good stretch takes me well beyond what is comfortable, it increases my range of comfort. Embracing the good pain, keeps the bad pain at bay.

God grant me courage and desire to move beyond comfort every day with you. Enlarge my heart. Stretch my capacity to give. Help me live fully and love freely. Help me choose short-term pain in light of lasting gain.

I am new to blogging, but I have kept a journal off and on since I was a teenager. It feels so different, though, imagining some random person reading my ramblings and revelations. I don’t know yet what will come of it, but I think I will give it a try.