Scripture:  From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Mat 4:17 NKJV)

Message from the Word:  Repentance – it’s not something that we hear a whole lot about these days. Oh yes, we hear the church talk about forgiveness, grace, mercy and asking Jesus into your heart. These are all good, even wonderful things that need to be taught and preached, but we also need to hear about repentance. The first thing that Jesus said when he started His ministry was “Repent.” The Greek word that is used in our scripture is metanoeō (met-an-o-eh'-o) and means; “to think differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider.” It implies a “turning around” from what a person was doing and doing the opposite. Too often we call people to accept Jesus, or to ask for forgiveness for their sins, but don’t teach that they also must stop living the way they have been and start living according to God’s word. We have people who come forward for altar calls, ask Jesus to forgive them and then go home and live their lives just like they did before. There is no change in them, they’ve just wiped the slate clean so they can mess it all up again, and then the whole cycle starts all over. Repenting must be a part of our Christian walk, asking for forgiveness, but also making the change in our lives so that we turn away from our sins and turn toward God and His word. The next time you find that you have fallen, missed the mark, backslidden or just plain screwed up – ask for God’s forgiveness AND repent from what you have done. Determine that you will not fall back into that sin again – do a turn around – turn away from the sin and turn toward Jesus.

Scripture reading:  Luke 13:1-9

This devotion written by:
Ron DeGraw