Repent

Repent

To repent is to feel sincere regret or remorse for a wrongdoing…or that awful word “sin.”  I’ve heard some say there really isn’t sin any more, as we are all under God’s grace.  But is that true?  I don’t believe it is.  Oh yes, we are under God’s grace if we believe in his son Jesus and accept him as Savior, but God is holy.  And he requires holiness from us.  And that means we have to deal with sin…by repenting.

Job 42:6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

What did Job do that caused or required or prompted him to repent and “despise” himself?  Aren’t we all supposed to think good thought about ourselves, no matter how we feel or what we've done?

Job had a long discourse with God about his suffering, and God had many questions to ask Job, to which Job finally answered and surrendered to the knowledge and the truth that God was God, and he was not to be doubted, that he could be trusted, and he was not to be quizzed like a man.

Job had an “ah-ha!” moment when God spoke to him, revealed himself to him, and Job then realized that his shaking his fist in God’s face was not a proper response to the holy God.

That’s what repentance is. 

It’s realizing that God is who he said He is – just, kind, good AND holy – and then falling on our knees in a longing to be holy just like he is, so that we can experience all that he is.