Removing The Wedge

• How do you know when you need to repent?

• Why is repentance sometimes painful?

John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.”
Luke 3:7-8

Imagine that your best friend betrayed you. Maybe he humiliated you in front of the whole class. Or maybe she spread a terrible rumor to ruin your reputation. Whatever the case, your friend did something he or she knew would hurt you or make you angry.

Now imagine that your friend tries to pretend as though nothing happened after betraying you. He expects you to treat him the same way you always did. Or she thinks it’s no big deal. How would you react? Could you treat your friend as though nothing had happened between you? Or would you demand an apology before you went back to the way things used to be?

This is an illustration of repentance. When we sin, we betray God. We become guilty of the one thing he hates. This drives a wedge between us and him. We can’t pretend nothing’s wrong because something is. Until we admit it and ask for forgiveness, we can’t hope for a close relationship with him.

Repentance paves the way for a relationship with God. We have to understand how disgusting our sin is to him. Better still, we have to be disgusted by it too. When we do repent, God will forgive us and welcome us as a friend.

PRAYER
Dear God, let us never forget the importance of repentance and forgiveness. Thank you for listening to us every time we come to you with our sin. Thank you for always restoring our relationship. Amen.