Repentance

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel – Mark 1:15

Repentance involves a change of heart that leads to a change in action. It means forsaking sinful and rebellious ways in order to please our Creator God. But Jesus here takes it yet a step further.

Repent…and believe the gospel. As Jesus stands before us, warning that time is marching forward to a definite and purposeful conclusion, he calls us to repent and to believe. Repentance not only loosens our selfish hold on the things of this world; it also embraces the good news of another world.

What a sweet call this is! A call to believe that the good news that Jesus brings is actually true, that the God of heaven really has condescended to give his only Son on behalf of sinners. We are called to believe what might otherwise seem too good to be true. We are called to trust the God who cannot lie, to rest in the perfect work of a perfect Savior.

What about you? Do you see repentance as a straitjacket to keep you from the good things in life, or have you come to understand that repentance is embracing the source of Life itself?

Time is progressing toward the inexorable end of one day facing our holy and hallowed Creator. Are you running from him now, or are you reveling in him now?