REPENTANCE

Im working on a study today on the topic of repentance and there was something that I came across that really helped me understand repentance in a much larger way. In Mark 1, just after Jesus had been baptized and had returned from His time in the wilderness He brought His first message to the people. In Mark 1:15 Jesus said, The time has come... The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news. The first image that we have when we talk about repentance is someone feeling really sorry for something. All of us have "hit the wall" spiritually at one point or another. We get to that moment where we know that we've done wrong and we naturally feel remorse for our actions. But Jesus is calling for more than just remorse. Or perhaps once we get to that point of remorse we start to try and overcome what we've done wrong by trying to do more things right to sort of stack the deck in the other direction - we call that penance. The Pharisees were probably the kings of penance but in Jesus' eyes they still fell far short of that point He wanted for them and for all of us. When Jesus called for repentance He was calling everyone to start reversing the way they had been thinking about everything! Jesus has called us to change our attitudes and also our outlook. If a person has truely repented of something their behavior and actions show that change. As Christians we're being called to accept a way of looking at life that ultimately draws us into a way of thinking that reflects the thoughts and ideas of God. True repentance changes our attitude about God, sin, self and others. Unfortunately there are many people who see repentance as a one time action that leads to salvation, (and certainly we need to repent to become the children of God). But our repentance is an ongoing process that reflects a life that shows others that we really are the disciples that Jesus called us to be. I am so thankful that we have the call to repent and the ability to truely repent through Jesus Christ.