Recognize and Repent
Daily Old Testament Reading: Ezekiel 43-46
Daily Focus Passage: Ezekiel 43
The prophet Ezekiel received a vision from the Lord concerning the temple's construction. The temple served as the place that revealed the glory of the Lord and formed a place for the people to consider their lives before the Lord. The instructions of the Lord provided the metric by which people could evaluate their faithfulness. The evaluation process would lead to recognizing sinfulness and the need for repentance. The same occurs today when we test ourselves against the metrics of the Lord. We find ourselves recognizing our sinfulness and seeking repentance.
RECOGNIZING SIN
The Lord declared to Ezekiel that the people would recognize their waywardness and sin when they compared themselves to the ways of the Lord. The ways of the Lord are perfect and true. Thus, when people stand in the presence of the Lord and consider their lives with his metrics, sin becomes evident. The filth of humanity becomes illuminated in the holiness and perfection of the Lord. The Lord exposes our sin because he is light, and the presence of darkness and sin cannot be hidden in his presence.
Today, we must continue to recognize our sins by seeking to measure our lives by the metrics and truth of the Lord. We must engage the Word of God to hear and see the ways and truth of the Lord. We must engage with other believers to affirm the truth and be challenged by others to seek the Lord. We must allow the Lord to illuminate our waywardness and own the sin exposed in our lives. Recognizing sin places us in the proper position before the Lord because we recognize our unworthiness in his holiness. We must overcome the temptation to justify our sins and seek to deal with our sins through repentance.
REPENTING OF SIN
Recognizing sin must drive people to seek repentance and reconciliation before the Lord. Repentance and reconciliation work together as repentance seeks forgiveness and turns to the Lord, and reconciliation is the re-establishment of the relationship broken by sin. The act of repenting begins with recognizing sin, which leads to our ownership of sin. We must take responsibility in repentance for the sins we have committed. As we own them, we must acknowledge them before the Lord and ask for forgiveness and cleansing.
When we ask for forgiveness, we ask the Lord to cleanse and forgive us because of his mercy and grace, not because we deserve it. We demonstrate the authentic nature of repentance when we turn from the present sin in life and pursue to live in faithfulness. Repentance does not allow continued acceptance of sin but instead turns and sprints in the direction of the will and ways of the Lord. When we measure ourselves by the Lord's metric, we recognize our need to repent.
As we consider the prophet's words to Israel, we must commit to measuring our lives in the presence and ways of the Lord. Through this measuring, the Lord reveals and convicts us of our sins. We must take ownership and practice repentance. How are you measuring your life before the Lord? What sin do you need to own and seek repentance for?
