Be Repenting!
1. God said, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." That's what Jesus said when He came preaching. Jesus is God. And His message has not changed.
2. Jesus was a Jew. To Him repentance did not just mean "turn away from sin." It meant; "turn away from all sin - to God - with all your heart, not feignedly, making no pretense, and holding nothing back!" That was the Jewish understanding of the word "repent" in the days of Jesus. And that is how He understood the word "repent." And that is how He used it.
3. It does not do any good to just simply "turn away from sin", if you do not turn to God with all your heart. Because if you do not turn to God, (in faith, with all your heart), you will have no power over sin. The only thing that will happen is - you will fall right back into it.
4. But what does "turn to God with all your heart" mean? There is an example.. The Bible says "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone, to his own way; And God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53:6
5. Sheep are like that. Very often they do not follow the shepherd. They think they know better. They become rebellious. They scatter. Each one goes wherever it wants to. But the sheep are very dumb animals. They go to the highway where they can get run over by trucks. Or they go to the desert where there is no water. Or they go to the canyon where there are coyotes, and mountain lions. Sometimes they go to cliffs where they can fall off. Sometimes they even fall into the water and drown. They go to pastures where some of the plants are poisonous. All this because they were not following the shepherd. They did not know His voice.
6. People are like that, the Bible says. We have turned - everyone to his own way!
7. A friend of mine told me this amazing story: When she was about fourteen years old, she wanted to go her own way. Her mother wanted her to stay home and learn the Navajo art of weaving, so she could help the family make some money. But she wanted to go her own way! Her idea was to walk into town and get a job at the trading post. So she got into some very grown up looking clothing, wore some high heels, and put on some make up. Then, along with another fourteen year old, who had similar dreams, she made it into town. Looking very adult (she thought), she marched up to the counter with her friend, but before she could say anything, the trader asked her, "And what do you want today, little girls?" She was completely devastated.
8. But that was an event in her life that led her to true repentance and faith. For she saw that she did not have enough wisdom, and that going her own way would only result in dismal failure and rejection. She wanted to work as a secretary in an office high above city streets, where she could look down on the traffic. But she had to surrender that dream and desire also - to God. Then, in uncommon wisdom for a fourteen year old, she prayed this prayer, "God I want to be everything You want me to be." It was a complete surrender, and the turning point of her life. It was the surrender of faith. She believed that God's ways are better than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Ultimately she became the good wife of a great pastor. Moreover, she became very wealthy, and went back as an instrument of God to her own people.
9. So she taught me this... that "turn to God with all your heart" means a total surrender. Her prayer was, "God, I want to be everything You want me to be." WOW! You can't get a deeper surrender than that! That is a real laying down of your life. You will not go your own way anymore. But you will seek God's will, and His ways.
10. And you will be filled with God's Spirit. "For," Jesus said, "The Kingdom of Heaven is here."
11. The Kingdom of Heaven is grace reaching people. It is the redemptive movement of God's Spirit on earth. It is an exciting thing to be involved in. The Spirit of God is always at work in everyone's life to bring them to Christ. When someone repents and turns to God with all his heart, he becomes involved in this movement. And there he finds his rest and peace. For the Spirit of God is life, and love. There is victory and power. My friend made a wise turn long ago, and has not regretted a moment of it since then.
P.S. Turning away from sin - to God - with all our hearts, is part of our daily walk with God. Because - what Jesus really said was, "Be repenting, for the kingdom of heaven (the move of God's Spirit and of His grace), is here."