Remember, Re-center, Repent
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Show Video Clips - Fireproof _You need Him
I am not the perfect father. I am not even the perfect husband and I am far from the perfect Team Leader. But if there is one thing I have learned in my 45 years on this earth is that If I want to have good relationships...an element in them, must be repentance.
In the book of Hosea this is expressed by the writer as a return to God.
“Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.
Let us acknowledge the LORD;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth.”
In Hosea the great metaphor of the faithless wife is the key to understanding the sense of repentance (Hosea 2–3). Faithless Israel has become a prostitute and abandoned the relationship with the Lord, forgotten the love God showed, and been ungrateful for the Lord’s gifts of plenty and prosperity. But the Lord does not (as in Amos) let go. “I will woo her. I will go with her into the wilderness and comfort her: there I will restore her vineyards … and there she will answer as in her youth” (Hos 2:14–15). There is in Hosea a real sense of the possibility of repentance. “Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us and will heal us. He has struck us and he will bind up our wounds; after two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that in his presence we may live” (Hos 6:1–2). Following this consolation, the prophet goes on to enumerate the qualities of repentance: humility and knowledge of the Lord (Hos 6:3–4). And further in chap. 12 he cites “loyalty and justice” (Hos 12:6). Over and over it is the care of the poor, the quality of justice, and the dedication to the Torah that exemplify true repentance.
So in Hosea, while the references are to Israel (2:4–14), the repentance which is required is more personal, more individual than the call to repentance in Amos.
Joseph P. Healey, “Repentance,” ed. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 672.
But you must return to your God;
maintain love and justice,
and wait for your God always.
REPENTANCE: Literally a change of mind, not about individual plans, intentions, or beliefs, but rather a change in the whole personality of an individual or group from a sinful course of action to the true will of God.
REPENTANCE: Literally a change of mind, not about individual plans, intentions, or beliefs, but rather a change in the whole personality of an individual or group from a sinful course of action to the true will of God.
These verses show us four characteristics seen in repentance.
These verses show us four characteristics seen in repentance.
1. Humility.
1. Humility.
2. Knowledge of God.
2. Knowledge of God.
3. Loyalty
3. Loyalty
4. Justice.
4. Justice.
“I will heal their waywardness
and love them freely,
for my anger has turned away from them.
I will be like the dew to Israel;
he will blossom like a lily.
Like a cedar of Lebanon
he will send down his roots;
his young shoots will grow.
His splendor will be like an olive tree,
his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.
People will dwell again in his shade;
they will flourish like the grain,
they will blossom like the vine—
Israel’s fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.
Jesus told us in Luke 15, about the rejoicing that goes on when one person repents.
I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
Caleb wanted the relationship he once had with his wife. God wanted the Israelites to be faithful to Him. God, as much, wants us to be faithful and in a relationship with Him.
From the moment God walked in garden and found Adam and Eve hiding that is all He has ever wanted a relationship with us. That is why he sent Jesus. See, just like God pursued in Israel. God has pursued us through the person of Jesus.
Jesus came and died for you and me, so that we can return to Him. He has done His part and is calling us to do ours.
We must remain humble so that we can hear Him.
We must know Him.
We must be loyal to Him.
We must love justice.
It is not enough to acknowledge our wrongs. God wants us active in righting them and making things that our wrong in this world right.