Two days before Amelia’s second birthday, Ezra Benjamin was born. Amelia mothered him from the beginning. From her younger brother to her youngest cousins, she adores a baby. When Ezra was old enough to demand more of their mom’s time and attention, Amelia often reverted to baby talk, seeking the attention that was once hers entirely. She loved being scooped up and cradled like a baby, rocked and patted, swaddled with an oversized blanket, or being dressed for bed on the changing table like her baby brother. She relished the independence of being two and three but once in awhile, she longed to be the baby again.
For a toddler transitioning to big brother or sister, this is completely normal but Paul chides Christians for failing to mature in the faith and his admonishment is mirrored in Hebrews.
“Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people.
I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ.
I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger.
And you still aren’t ready, for you are still controlled by your sinful nature.
You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other.
Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature?
Aren’t you living like people of the world?”
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1co.3.1-3.NLT
“There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen.
You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others.
Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word.
You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food.
For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right.
Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.”
Hebrews 5:11-14 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.5.11-14.NLT
The Old Testament books of Judges and Kings point to the human tendency to flounder without godly leadership. After the death of Joshua, God raised up Judges to lead His people and after Samuel, He allowed Israel to have kings like the other nations. (I Samuel 8:5) There were good and godly leaders but there were also times when Israel either lacked leadership or what leaders she had led her astray.
“In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.”
Judges 21:25 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jdg.21.25.NLT
Of Israel’s kings, scripture often judged, “He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as his ancestors had done.”
2 Kings 23:32 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2ki.23.32.NLT
Modern nations are not so very different yet we deign to judge Israel for her repetitive reversion into idolatry. When the hearts of the people were set on God as their Sovereign, they conquered cities and enjoyed peace and prosperity but when they became complacent or their allegiance was turned by the practices of their pagan neighbors, they lived in fear, defeated, subjugated, reaping the penalty for their own disloyalty. God allowed the nation to be overrun because of their willful disobedience but He also responded to their cries for mercy and rescued them from their enemies. Each time, their wayward hearts reverted, a season of suffering resulted. Each time God removed His hand of protection and allowed His possession to be oppressed, He watched for signs of repentance. He never for a moment relinquished His Sovereignty. He used enemy kings and pagan nations to discipline His people just as He used His people to bring judgement against His enemies. Only God is in a proper position to recognize when wickedness has reached its zenith and requires judgement and when human hearts are humbled before Him in true repentance.
“This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved.
In quietness and confidence is your strength.
But you would have none of it.
So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion.
For the Lord is a faithful God.
Blessed are those who wait for his help.”
Isaiah 30:15, 18 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.30.15-18.NLT
Translated from the Latin, to revert literally means to turn back or to return to a previous state. Whether this reverting is a good or bad thing is based solely on its direction. As God stated to Israel through Isaiah the prophet, “Only in returning to Me and resting in Me will you be saved.” Even as He commanded it, He recognized that the people’s hearts were already turned away from Him. “But you would have none of it.” This was not the final word of His judgment however. God’s patience is without equal. “He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” (II Peter 3:9) So He waited for Israel and He waits for us still.
“So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion.
For the Lord is a faithful God.
Blessed are those who wait for his help.”(Isaiah 30:15,18)
“Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you?
Does this mean nothing to you?
Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?
But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself.
For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
He will judge everyone according to what they have done.
He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers.
But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness.
There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.
But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.
For God does not show favoritism.”
Romans 2:4-11 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.2.4-11.NLT
“Like our ancestors, we have sinned.
We have done wrong!
We have acted wickedly!
Our ancestors in Egypt were not impressed by the Lord’s miraculous deeds.
They soon forgot his many acts of kindness to them.
Instead, they rebelled against him at the Red Sea.
Even so, he saved them— to defend the honor of his name and to demonstrate his mighty power.
Then his people believed his promises.
Then they sang his praise.
Yet how quickly they forgot what he had done!
They wouldn’t wait for his counsel!
In the wilderness their desires ran wild, testing God’s patience in that dry wasteland.
So he gave them what they asked for, but he sent a plague along with it.
The people refused to enter the pleasant land, for they wouldn’t believe his promise to care for them.
Instead, they grumbled in their tents and refused to obey the Lord.
They defiled themselves by their evil deeds, and their love of idols was adultery in the Lord’s sight.
That is why the Lord’s anger burned against his people, and he abhorred his own special possession.
He handed them over to pagan nations, and they were ruled by those who hated them.
Their enemies crushed them and brought them under their cruel power.
Again and again he rescued them, but they chose to rebel against him, and they were finally destroyed by their sin.
Even so, he pitied them in their distress and listened to their cries.
He remembered his covenant with them and relented because of his unfailing love.”
Psalms 106:6-8, 12-15, 24-25, 39-45 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.106.6-45.NLT
God’s covenant relationship with Israel was unique but we are heirs of that covenant, children of Abraham, wild olive branches grafted into God’s special cultivated tree. (Romans 11:17, 24) When God called Abraham and promised him descendants to outnumber the stars, God was preparing the family line for Messiah, keeping the promise He made to Adam and Eve and all of humanity all the way back in Genesis. (3:15) Jesus is the one Way back to God and He is descended from Abraham, firstborn among many brothers. (John 14:6, Romans 8:29)
“Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.
Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah.
For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets.”
Acts of the Apostles 3:19-21 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/act.3.19-21.NLT
“For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation.
There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow.
But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.”
2 Corinthians 7:10 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.7.10.NLT
“Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.”
Matthew 3:8 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.3.8.NLT
Turning toward God through faith in Jesus’s finished work on the cross is true repentance. Obedience to God’s Word is the evidence of true repentance but there is a kind of turning that does not constitute faith.
“And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before.
It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life.
They prove the truth of this proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit.”
And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud.””
2 Peter 2:20-22 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2pe.2.20-22.NLT
“But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”
1 John 1:9 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1jn.1.9.NLT
Following the advent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Peter preached an impromptu sermon after which three thousand souls professed faith in Christ and more were added to their number daily. Acts gives us a glimpse into how true conviction and turning begins.
“Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”
Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.””
Acts of the Apostles 2:37-39 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/act.2.37-39.NLT
“You must faithfully keep all my commands by putting them into practice, for I am the Lord.
Do not bring shame on my holy name, for I will display my holiness among the people of Israel.
I am the Lord who makes you holy.”
Leviticus 22:31-33 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/lev.22.31-33.NLT
“But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.
For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites.
He will judge or reward you according to what you do.
So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.”
For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors.
And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value.
It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.
God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.”
1 Peter 1:15-20 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1pe.1.15-20.NLT
“Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life.
He is the one you should fear.
He is the one who should make you tremble.
Look to God’s instructions and teachings!
People who contradict his word are completely in the dark.
They will go from one place to another, weary and hungry.
And because they are hungry, they will rage and curse their king and their God.
They will look up to heaven and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair.
They will be thrown out into the darkness.”
Isaiah 8:11-13, 20-22 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.8.11-22.NLT
“The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced.
“The Kingdom of God is near!
Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!””
Mark 1:15 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mrk.1.15.NLT
“So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God.”
Mark 6:12 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mrk.6.12.NLT
“Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”
Matthew 6:9-10 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.6.9-10.NLT
“O nations of the world, recognize the Lord; recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong.
Give to the Lord the glory he deserves!
Bring your offering and come into his courts.
Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor.
Let all the earth tremble before him.
Tell all the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
Psalms 96:7-10 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.96.9.NLT
The Lord Almighty Reigns ~KeithandKrystinGetty featuring Shane&Shane https://youtu.be/5XYeDpNndR0?is=rLnC1QmjxjkJw56o
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