Week 2 | Day 4 | Repentance - A 180º and More

Command:

“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Mark 1:15 (NIV)

Read:

Now I am happy. I’m not happy because you were made sad. I’m happy because your sadness led you to turn away from your sins. You became sad just as God wanted you to. So, you were not hurt in any way by us. Godly sadness causes us to turn away from our sins and be saved. And we are certainly not sorry about that! But worldly sadness brings death. 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 (NIRV)

Reflect:

I crawled under my desk. I was overwhelmed. I’d been happily working away on a tee shirt for a Bible camp. I was killing it. The theme was great — “Metamorphosis: Molt, Morph, Multiply” — a perfect metaphor for inspiring the faith of the teenage campers. My design had a glow-in-the-dark giant transforming robot straight out of Japanese anime. I felt like a kid riding a bike with no hands on the handlebars. Then I heard God speak into my imagination, “If you want your students to be transformed, then you need to be transformed.” It wasn’t audible, but the voice came with authority. I was convicted and the air rushed out of me. I needed metamorphosis as much as the kids coming to camp. The tears and the snot came, and I didn’t care. I crouched on my knees under the desk in my office. I told God he was right and that I wasn’t and that I need him to make me right. An emotional moment. 

React:

What role do you think emotions play in repentance? Is it a problem to be too emotional in repentance? Can a person repent without having lots of feelings?

Pray:

Jesus, thanks for the gift of repentance — that we get to respond to Holy Spirit’s convictions and agree with you. Help me today to live a lifestyle of repentance that turns away from my ego-ey selfishness.