Too Content to Repent?

Please welcome Pastor Jeff Morlock to the Daily Bible Blast team of devotion writers. 

Read Matthew 3:1-11

Here’s that word again - “repent”. Just as we’re about to start a new year with a clean slate, it shows up to ruin our mood. This word we won’t hear anywhere else but in Scripture or at church. This word that John the Baptist screams at the top of his lungs. This word that calls us out and makes us feel guilty. Any chance we can rescue this word from all the negative baggage associated with it, and reclaim its value for ourselves and our world in 2020? 

I think for most of us repentance means saying you’re sorry. Or better, that you’re really, really, sorry and will never do it again – whatever “it” is. And of course, that’s part of what repentance entails. But only a very small part. To repent primarily means to turn around, to start over, to take another direction, to chart a different course. when one’s current course of behavior has caused pain to self, others, or God. 

So, as we reclaim this word for ourselves in the coming year, in what one aspect of your life do you need to repent (change direction) right now? Is there some practice or habit you could begin that might produce more abundant life for you or those around you?

Is there an element of our life together that needs repentance? How might you use your time and energy in the coming year to help bring about change?

Prayer:
Lord, don’t allow me to be too content to repent. Would you give me a soft heart to recognize where and how my actions have caused you sorrow? Would you fill me with your Holy Spirit so that my repentance is empowered by more than weak willpower and quickly broken resolutions? In Jesus' name. Amen.