“Lolly, we did it! We went on the big green and orange slides at the dumper bucket!” Amelia and Ezra talked over each other while Thomas and Timothy, overhearing, chimed in excitedly. My husband had called me during his drive home and Amelia and Ezra met him at his truck. He handed his phone off to Amelia and went to take the dog out. “Tell Lolly about your trip,” he encouraged but he needn’t have said a word for they vied for my attention for the next ten minutes, each story reminding them of another. I barely got a word in as the four cousins all talked at once.
My son’s family left for Great Wolf Lodge, a favorite family destination, the day I headed to visit my daughter. We’re all fortunate to live within driving distance of this indoor waterpark resort. My daughters are excellent bargain hunters. They minimize the expense while maximizing the family fun with little jaunts throughout the year. Thomas is finally both tall and courageous enough to try most of the slides so he was thrilled when Amelia finally wanted to try a bigger slide too. Hearing him on my end of the line praising her for being brave and sensing their shared excitement about going back together soon was a special treat. I love seeing my grandchildren together loving one another and I thank God for the privilege. Even over the phone, their excitement is contagious.
I thank God for many privileges I enjoy. We could compare lists and I’m certain we would both come up with even more to be grateful for but one incredible and often overlooked privilege came to light during my Bible reading. Like the many freedoms we enjoy, it is all too often taken for granted but hear in the response of the apostles and other Jewish believers in the early church after having criticized Peter for entering the home of Cornelius, a Roman army officer in Caesarea to share the good news about Jesus, identify true repentance as a gift from God.
“As I began to speak,” Peter continued, “the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning.
Then I thought of the Lord’s words when he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?”
When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God.
They said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.””
Acts of the Apostles 11:15-18 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/act.11.15-18.NLT
Who was I to stand in God’s way? Indeed! But how often do we consider repentance a privilege and a gift from God? They said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.” God is the Giver of every good and perfect gift. (James 1:17) Paul encouraged believers to eagerly desire the greater, most helpful gifts. (I Corinthians 12:21) Maybe we have a wrong understanding of Biblical repentance for we do not desire it as we should.
Nobody likes to be told what to do. We protest in subtle ways but not so a child. Timothy and Thomas needed haircuts. This was part of the reason for my visit. The fall weather was nice enough so I gathered the clippers and sat on the steps of their porch. Timothy put his football down reluctantly and submitted to his trim. When I finished and it was Thomas’s turn, his mom called him over. He marched purposefully toward me before ducking his head and attempting to walk on by, muttering flatly, “No haircut.” We had waited until just before bath time to cut hair knowing that once they were finished, they would be itchy and we would go inside to get ready for dinner and bed. The end of the day is not always ideal for necessary tasks requiring cooperation but then again, when else? Morning haircuts require two baths. I reminded Thomas that he had a choice about his attitude but not about his haircut. He complied without much of a fuss.
We learn early to say sorry when we are wrong and to expect an apology when we are wronged but we are born knowing how to be insincere. We spit out sorry with every voice inflection under the sun. A casual sorry after accidentally bumping into someone in a crowded room sounds very different from a sarcastic l’m-not-really-sorry sorry. John the Baptist, then Jesus, Peter, and Paul preached repentance. “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus echoed John’s message then Jesus sent his disciples out with the same message of repentance.
“Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people.
And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil spirits.
He told them to take nothing for their journey except a walking stick—no food, no traveler’s bag, no money.
He allowed them to wear sandals but not to take a change of clothes.
“Wherever you go,” he said, “stay in the same house until you leave town.
But if any place refuses to welcome you or listen to you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.”
So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God.”
Mark 6:7-12 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mrk.6.7-12.NLT
When Paul encountered the idolatry of the Greeks, he took his opportunity to preach the same gospel of repentance.
“So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines.
And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’
This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.
He is the God who made the world and everything in it.
Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs.
He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need.
From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth.
He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.
His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us.
For in him we live and move and exist.
As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.
God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him.
For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.””
Acts of the Apostles 17:22-31 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/act.17.22-31.NLT
To repent is to come into agreement with God about sin and about life and love. His truth is absolute and it is found in His Word. Repentance is turning from pleasing myself or anyone else for that matter and surrendering my will to God in Christ. I am repentant when I see all the ways I fall short of the glory of Holy God and begin to live selflessly as an ambassador for Christ, my Savior and Lord from a heart overflowing with gratitude for the forgiveness and mercy shown me.
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.
If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it.
But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.
And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?
Is anything worth more than your soul?”
Matthew 16:24-26 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.16.24-26.NLT
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
John 3:36 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/jhn.3.36.ESV
“This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.
So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.
But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.
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.
If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.”
1 John 1:5-10 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1jn.1.5-10.NLT
Repentance is not simply remorse. There is solemnity and sorrow but mostly there is surrender.
“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 2:38-39 NLT
