Repentance

We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. Yet no one calls on your name or pleads with you for mercy. Therefore, you have turned away from us and turned us over to our sins. [Isaiah 64.6-7]

If ever there was a call to repentance, this is it.

Sin is like an impure infection. No matter how good we are on the surface, sin on the inside makes us vile and disdainful in the sight of God.

This problem is also contemporary to our modern times. However the sin which separates us from God today is unbelief in His Son, Jesus.

The problem of sin changed entirely with the Advent of Christ. No longer would the strict rules of Old Testament Law be that by which a man would be judged. However, the problem with man did not change with Jesus' redemptive visit to earth. Man is still tasked with obedience to God - specifically, man is required only to believe in Christ. But, man faces the same hurdle today that he faced in Old Testament times: repentance, Yet no one calls on your name or pleads with you for mercy.

At some point, every man has to come to God in repentance. In fact, the Word of God is not unclear that man should remain humble before God at all times. But repentance today is much different than repentance under Old Testament Law. Meticulous rituals and sacrifices are no longer required, but instead, faith in Christ is essential to righteousness before God. Yet no one calls on your name or pleads with you for mercy remains the problem today - repentance is ignored.

Father, may we be found repentant before You at all times. And, in our repentance, may Your Spirit rest upon us in undeniable power so that we might spread Your Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.