Repent

Repent

Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.

“DAD, I’M SORRY I snuck the chocolate chips you were saving for cookies.” Giving her dad a sad, puppy eye look, Sam tried to look repentant.

“This isn’t the first or even the tenth time we’re having a conversation about sneaking chocolate chips.” Gently pulling her into a hug, he said, “Saying you are sorry without changing your behavior means that you are sorry you got caught. An apology in this situation isn’t enough. I need to see changed behavior, repentance. You’re grounded.”

“Dad.” Groaning, Sam handed him her phone. “Why do you have to be so strict? It’s just chocolate chips.”

“Oh, honey. This isn’t about the chocolate chips; this is about apology without repentance.”

As Sam’s dad—my friend—told me about how a parenting tussle over chocolate chips had turned into a life lesson on repentance, I tucked several thoughts away for the long drive home.

Unrepentance, the willful and continued engaging in something sinful, something God has set a boundary around for our own health and well-being, is an uncomfortable place to pitch one’s proverbial tent—I know from past experience. Choosing to live continually outside of the boundaries God sets for those who love and follow him puts us at increased risk of undesirable consequences and pulls us away from intimacy with God. In the story of the Prodigal Son, we are the wayward child, and God is the father, waiting, hoping, ready to throw a feast upon our return home, to him.

Friend, there is nothing, nothing, that is so dark, so awful, so sinful that you cannot get back to God. God redeemed Saul—a Pharisee who stood by approvingly as Stephen was martyred, a man who zealously hunted down Christians—into the beloved Paul, author of at least thirteen books in the New Testament. God offers second chances, fresh starts, clean slates, and redemption, but the price is repentance—both an apology and changed behavior.

Lord, remind us of our unrepentant sins, the dangerous things you’ve set protective boundaries around that we insist upon dabbling in. Invite us into repentance and a renewed intimacy with you. Amen.

-Julie

One Good Step: What do you need to repent from? If it requires a significant life change, make an implementation plan and recruit an accountability partner as you repent.