What does it mean to “repent”?
June 3, 2008 by Ruth
Filed under repentance
What does it mean to “repent”?
Memory Verse
“Look! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the world’s sin!” John 1:29 [The Living Bible]
While Jesus was growing up in Nazareth, his cousin John was growing up in the desert country of Judea. John spent a lot of time listening to God. God had chosen him to prepare the people for what Jesus would soon be teaching.
John preached, “Repent and be baptized”. The Jews then and all of us now, need to repent before we can do what Jesus teaches us to do. Repent simply means to stop doing wrong and begin to do right. People were baptized by John to show that they were sorry for their sins and chose to obey God from now on; that’s why he was called ‘John the Baptist’.
If we had seen John the Baptist we would have probably thought he was weird. He didn’t wear ordinary long flowing clothes like the custom of the day required. He wore an outfit made from camel’s hair. The Bible says he ate locusts and wild honey. Locusts are grasshoppers.
We lived in Lethbridge, Alberta for years. One of the things that Lethbridge is known for is its many windy days and dryness. We lived at the edge of the city and our back yard skirted a farmer’s field. One summer we had a huge infestation of grasshoppers. They were everywhere. I couldn’t walk across the back yard without grasshoppers jumping all over me. The back of our house was covered with grasshoppers. I was thinking: too bad we didn’t have John the Baptist’s craving for locusts. We could have had a feast.
When people were baptized by John, that didn’t mean their sins were forgiven. Jesus still had to do that. But they were showing that they were sorry for their sins and wanted to obey God.
John the Baptist told the people that if they wanted to please God they should be unselfish and help the poor people. He taught the soldiers to not hurt people and to be contented with the money they earned. He was teaching them the way to live is to practice love and peace; just what Jesus would soon teach.
This year you saw the running of the global torch relay on TV. Just as the torch relay got people ready for the 2008 Olympic Games this year in Beijing, John the Baptist was making people aware that Jesus was coming.
John the Baptist didn’t only have the honor of preparing the way for Jesus; he also had the honor of baptizing Jesus. Jesus didn’t have to be baptized for repentance of His sins, because He never sinned. He is God. Jesus was baptized to show people it was the right thing to do and also it prepared the people to accept Him. When He was coming out of the water, the Spirit of God came down from heaven in the form of a dove and God the Father’s voice from heaven spoke: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” This proved to John and the people that this man was Jesus, God’s Son.
So when the Bible says that we need to repent it means we need to be sorry for our sins, the wrong things we do, and stop doing them. Then we turn to Jesus and say we want to do things His way. We live the way the Bible, His Word, teaches.
Going Deeper for Parents:
According to the Nelson NKJV Study Bible, the Greek verb ‘repent’ means a change of attitude and outlook which may result in sorrow for one’s sins. True repentance is more than regret. True repentance always brings a change in one’s life. One turns from wrong doing to doing right.
People in John the Baptist’s time were just as hypocritical as we sometimes are today. John saw the multitudes come to be baptized with the baptism of repentance but he also saw that not everyone truly repented. They were there to impress others or to follow the crowd.
It’s easy to say “I’m sorry, forgive me” to God or to a person we have offended. Change only happens if this is our inward attitude.
I remember when my son was very young and saying ‘sorry’ came so easily to him. After supper I would remind him that he forgot to take the garbage out before he went out to play. He would say, what I thought was a glib ‘I’m sorry’ but the next day he still failed to oblige me. Obviously he wasn’t too interested in turning from his neglect or in pleasing me. He only wanted to be left alone and only said ‘sorry’ because he thought that would put him on my good side.
Often we treat God the same way. We say ‘sorry’ because we know we are in the wrong but we are not ready to change our ways.
We often struggle before we repent. First God shows us what we need to change in our life. We ignore His voice. After awhile He nudges us again.
We tell Him it’s too hard, we can’t do it. What we are really thinking, is we don’t want to deal with it. Then He reminds us how much He loves us and He wants us to deal with that issue because He wants to grow us.
Even in our struggle to repent, God has His time frame. He has to start somewhere with us so we start to surrender to Him. You, like I, can find consolation in God’s mercy as He continues to chip away at our stubbornness.
Author: The Lion Tree
http://ruthwillms.com
ruth.willms@gmail.com
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