Repentance That Leads To Life

REPENTANCE THAT LEADS TO LIFE

a prayer to open

Holy Spirit, come. Center my heart.

Fill my mind. Guide my steps.

Soon the news reached the apostles and other believers in Judea that the Gentiles had received the word of God. But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized him. “You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!” they said.

Then Peter told them exactly what had happened. “I was in the town of Joppa,” he said, “and while I was praying, I went into a trance and saw a vision. Something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners from the sky. And it came right down to me. When I looked inside the sheet, I saw all sorts of tame and wild animals, reptiles, and birds. And I heard a voice say, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.’

“‘No, Lord,’ I replied. ‘I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure or unclean.’

“But the voice from heaven spoke again: ‘Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.’ This happened three times before the sheet and all it contained was pulled back up to heaven.

“Just then three men who had been sent from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were staying. The Holy Spirit told me to go with them and not to worry that they were Gentiles. These six brothers here accompanied me, and we soon entered the home of the man who had sent for us. He told us how an angel had appeared to him in his home and had told him, ‘Send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. He will tell you how you and everyone in your household can be saved!’

“As I began to speak,” Peter continued, “the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning. Then I thought of the Lord’s words when he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?”

When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.”

Every time God does something new or extends an invitation to more people, controversy results. Peter’s involvement with Cornelius and his family did not sit well with a small group of Jewish Christians (the “circumcised believers” [verse 2, NIV]) who wanted to remain among the privileged and make newcomers abide by their rules and traditions. Once Peter explained how his experience had been predicted by Jesus, the objectors relented and realized that God’s invitation to life through repentance was much bigger than they had previously believed. This is undoubtedly true in our day too: We shrink God’s invitation to fit our standards about who should be in and who should be out. But God is always calling to those on the fringes, those who are ignored. His invitation is for all.

• Read this passage again. What word or phrase stands out to you? Sit quietly, reminding yourself that you are in God’s loving presence, and ask him to show you how that word or phrase connects to your life.
• What comes to mind when you hear the word repentance? How does repentance lead to life?
• In what ways do you find yourself seeking to limit God’s invitation? Who have you thought is beyond God’s reach?

Father, thank you for the gift of repentance that leads to life—an eternal life and a life in Christ now. Remind me of your compassion and mercy so I can turn to you with openness and without fear of punishment or condemnation. Forgive me for attempting to limit your invitation to those I deem acceptable or worthy. Show me how to reach out, share your love, and live in a way that leads others to you. Lead me by your Spirit. Amen.