Flippin the script

Yesterday my youngest daughter asked me what repent means. It was a good question. Many think it’s going to God for forgiveness. While that is true in part, I think there’s more there. Going to God for forgiveness I would say is more confession and talking with him in a conversation about it. Repent means to turn around or to change direction. It’s a change of mind and heart. To put it in young people terms, it’s flippin the script. My favorite example of repentance from the Bible is in Luke19:1-9 Zacchaeus was a tax collector. Not everyone’s favorite and especially back then. He was short and he climbed a tree to see Jesus coming because he couldn’t see over the crowd. Jesus called him down and told him he would like to come to his house to eat. After meeting Jesus, Zacchaeus, who likely had been a dishonest man , gave half of all he had to the poor and vowed to pay back all who he had cheated 4 times the amount. That is repentance!! It was a total turn from his normal. Jesus wasn’t just another man to him. He was now his Lord, and he was so grateful for Jesus loving him that he was ready to completely change the direction of his life!!
Change is one of the most difficult things in life, but to follow Christ, it is non negotiable. We must repent. We must change! Let’s follow in the footsteps of the sinful tax collector and turn our lives around for the one who gave his life for us!! Dear Jesus, you are not just a man to us!! Help us to repent not just with words but with our actions as well!!
Today is the day the Lord has made! Rejoice, and be glad in it!!