The Art of Repentance
Daily Old Testament Reading: Judges 10-12
Daily Focus Passage: Judges 10
The children of Israel illustrated the act of abandoning the ways of the Lord and causing the need for repentance throughout the Book of Judges. In Judges 10, the people come to their senses concerning their sin and cry to the Lord in repentance for forgiveness. Their cry demonstrates several components of seeking genuine forgiveness through repentance from the Lord. These components remain true today.
ACKNOWLEDGE SIN
The children of Israel realized that they lived in a state of sinfulness before the Lord. They cried to the Lord, “We have sinned against you.” This short statement reveals the first component of owning your state of sin in acknowledging sin in life. When people take ownership of their sins, they can admit their genuine state and identify the one they have sinned against. When ownership occurs, people refuse to blame others and come to the place of owning sin as their condition.
The second component of acknowledging sin occurs when they declare this statement to the Lord. The people do not make confessions or talk about their condition to one another. Instead, the people recognize that their sin is against the Lord, and thus they cry out to him. Acknowledging sin to the Lord is an act of taking ownership of one’s state before the Lord.
REMOVE THE TEMPTATIONS
The children of Israel noted that they had turned to the idols and false gods of the land of Canaan. Acknowledging this waywardness allows the people to take steps to remove the temptations of the land before them. The idols today may not be statues or images, but the temptation to worship people, places, and things other than the Lord continues today. When the idols become acknowledged, the next step is to remove them so the temptation becomes removed. When you consider your life, what temptations need removing? What idols tempt you and attempt to sneak into your life?
RETURN TO THE LORD
The act of repentance includes a return to the Lord. Acknowledging sin is a step, and removing temptations is another, but the actual turn to the Lord must occur. When we turn to the Lord, we declare him and serve him as the priority in life. We trust Him to guide us and direct us. We rest in His strength and work to rescue us from the plight we experience. Thus, the art of repentance forms a beautiful moment of reconnecting with the Lord and removing the barriers that formed.
We all have idols and temptations that attempt to blind us and keep us from the Lord. The art of repentance exists to create an avenue of return to the Lord. As you consider your life in the Lord, what sin needs acknowledging? What temptations must be abandoned? Will you make the turn back to the Lord?
