Matthew 3:1-2 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Repent! It’s not a word you hear in common settings. It’s a “church” word – that tells you something isn’t going in the direction it’s supposed to be going. I learned in seminary that repent means not just a little turn, a bit of shift in the road. Repent means turn all the way around. It means notice where you are and recognize that it isn’t where you should be.
Maybe repent sounds like bad news when we hear it, telling us we need to change. But repent is actually an invitation that could free us from paths that don’t serve us anymore, if they ever did. It’s an invitation to lay down the roads we’ve been walking that lead us away from the love of God. And those paths of temptation are many for all of us
Repent! May we let God lead us to a path that builds us up and fills us with the possibility of love and peace and joy.
Reflection Questions:
- Where in your life is God calling you to repent?
- Can you imagine yourself turning all the way around, and putting down the things that are separating you from God?
- Take some time in silence, and ask for God’s help in embracing a season of repentance.
Prayer: Dear God, Please help me see the possibilities for repentance in my life right now. In Jesus Name, Amen