Every journey must start with a step. For we
humans, we all started walking in the wrong direction, away from God. That is
why the Scriptures call us to turn to God. This turning is called repentance.
We hear that cry in the Old Testament prophets like Isaiah 31:6, “Return,
you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revolted against.”
The
first thing that is universally declared in Scripture is that humans have walked
away from God. We are not just born dead in our sins, but we choose to walk
further away from God. We do this in a million small ways. And each one is a
step away, a further departure from God. So at some point, if we are to have a
relationship with God and experience eternal life, we must stop walking away
and turn to start our return. That is repentance.
I
was driving to work the other day and about half-way to work I realized I had
forgotten a book I needed. I could have continued to drive to work, but then I
would have had to go the day without the book I needed. So, what do you think I
did? That’s right! I got off an exit, turned right, and then turned right
again, onto the entrance ramp and returned home. I stopped my forward motion
toward work and reversed course. That is repentance. The word means to turn
around and go the other direction.
Isaiah
calls on the Israelites to do just that. They have been in rebellion against
the LORD. They have walked away and done many things that caused them to lose
their connection with God. Because the LORD cared about them, He called on them
to return, to come back. It is not that they have just made some minor
off-course moves, they have greatly revolted against God.
I
hope you aren’t thinking that you are just a little off course, and that you
only need slight course corrections to get you in line with God’s purpose for
your life. Scripture declares just the opposite. We are dead
in our rebellion, and in need of a heart transplant, not just a flu shot. We
had been flat-lined since the moment of our conception, and Jesus brings us to life.
BUT,
we must trust that He can do that if we repent. That is the second part of this
process. We are not just turning, we are turning to Him and trusting that He
can and will take our pitiful offering, ourselves, and make something wonderful
out of it. Some of us have problems believing that anyone would want us, or
that even if they did, that they would and could invest in us and that they could turn our lives into
something acceptable to the King. And yet Jesus does and will do just that.
Jesus
wants to take our mess and remake it. Will you turn and allow Him to do this?