There’s a lot of difference between religious ritual and real repentance. External rituals only mean anything if they are linked to an inward change that has already happened.
Read: Joel 2: 12-17
Repentance is about a change of mind and heart. It is also about changing your direction of travel. Both of these changes should ultimately lead to a change not just in your thinking, but also in your behaviour. In the New Testament, when some religious leaders came to John the Baptist for baptism, he exclaimed, “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God”. For him the act of baptism was an outward sign of an already existing inward change
Joel says that outward signs of grief and mourning are not enough; a deeper work of repentance is necessary so that our responses to our sense of sinning against God are not just ritualistic and superficial but honest and deeply sincere.
Ritual repentance, confession, and penance are meaningless unless they spring from hearts and minds that already turning back to God in deep sorrow, and unless they result in changed behaviour.
In this instance it is not an individual, but a whole nation that God is calling to repentance. In our day, it may be that the church of which we are part, locally or universally, may not be right before God…how then do we find a way forward involving real repentance.
In Judah’s case it involved fasting, a solemn meeting (where we can help and encourage each other in repentance). It involved all age groups…even the children needed to be part of the returning to God and not protected from it (vital if they are to avoid repeating the pattern). It involves setting aside all other priorities. It involves the example of the leaders of the church, who often bear responsibility for allowing the situation to develop in the first place.
Ultimately, it requires the whole group or church to understand that our sin is a failure to truly reflect our Father God, and to cause others to mock and dishonour God as a result.
Repentance may seem simple, but real repentance is a serious thing.
“As long as I keep pretending, my soul keeps dying. Oddly enough, I don’t just pretend in front of other people. I pretend with God. My friend Scotty says that sometimes we ask for forgiveness, but we know full well we will go back to the same sin tomorrow. We don’t really want forgiveness; we just want to get out of trouble. He says it would be better to pray like this: “Dear God, I sinned yesterday, I sinned again today, and I’m planning to go out and do the same sin tomorrow. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” It may not quite reflect the maturity of “Thy will be done,” but it is better to be an honest mess before God than a dishonest “saint.” “You desire truth in the innermost parts,” the psalmist said to God, and that’s soul-talk. This is part of the sheer healing power of AA — Alcoholics Anonymous. Confession is good for the soul.
“Soul Keeping” by John Ortberg
How does this make you feel? Is there anything you need to do
Pilgrim Traveller 