Repentance gets a bad rap as it is actually one of the greatest blessings you can ever experience from the hand of God. Oswald Chambers, the author of “My Utmost For His Highest” said “the last thing we want to surrender is the right to ourselves” and he is right. That is one of the things that lies at the root of why we find it so difficult to repent. I would identify it with the word pride, as many have said, the leading cause of sin in our lives.

Repentance is more than just being sorry for what we have done, it is turning around and going in the opposite direction. We see this clearly in the life of the Prodigal son in Luke 15. “When he came to his senses…I will set out and go back to my father”. He realized and confessed that he had sinned in the eyes of both his father as well as God and was willing to confess that and accept the consequences. He returned! He confessed!

So what is “Worldly sorrow” that leads to death? We see it in the life of Judas who was “filled with remorse” but went out and hanged himself. To be filled with remorse is to be sorry you got caught, sorrow for the pain that has resulted in your life, but it doesn’t result in repentance, sorrow toward God, confession and turning away.

Another example is King Saul In Samuel 15 who disobeyed Samuel’s instructions and offered a sacrifice. Samuel told him he was being removed as King because he had rejected the word of The Lord. Listen to Saul’s words, “I have sinned. But please honor me now before the elders of my people”. That is a heart that is sorry for being caught but not repentant before God.

When Isaiah was convicted of his “unclean lips” in Isaiah 6 he was immediately conscious that he was in the presence of Holy God. At the very moment of his conviction, God sent a cherubim flying with a hot coal from the altar to cleanse him. God is eager to forgive and show mercy! Following that experience, Isaiah was now EAGER to serve! “Here am I send me!”

In David’s prayer of repentance in Psalm 51:4, David realized that his sin was primarily against God. “Against you and you only have I sinned”. This is the key to genuine repentance. In Isaiah’s case he was conscious of a specific area of his life that was not judged (his mouth). In David’s case he was very conscious of the fact that it was God he had sinned against.

In the case of the Prodigal I think we see both of those elements combined with a return to the Father, the Father’s house, the Father’s favor, the Father’s embrace and the Father’s provision! Do you see how grace and mercy are just waiting for your repentance and return?

What do you need to be cleansed from today?

Terry