return to me,"
declares the LORD.
"If you put your detestable idols out of my sight
and no longer go astray,
2 and if in a truthful, just and righteous way
you swear, `As surely as the LORD lives,'
then the nations will be blessed by him
and in him they will glory." Jeremiah4:1-2
What does true repentance look like?
Jeremiah gives us some thoughts:
1. Don't procrastinate. Many of us know that we need to come back to God, but we keep putting it off. "If you're going to come back then don't just say it - _do_ it" says the Lord.
2. Get rid of the idols and stop going astray. Take concrete actions to get distance between you and the things that dragged you away from God.
3. Learn to use God's name properly.
Let's look a little more closely at the third one...
In Old Testament times "as surely as the Lord lives" was a commonly used phrase that people used to lend weight to their promises and to look like an upright kind of person. It could be used insincerely and in a manipulative way.
When we get to a place where we only use God's name when we are sure that we are being _truthful_, _just_ and _righteous_ then that is a sign that our repentance has been real...
It boils down to an understanding that honouring God is not something we can do with empty words if our lives don't match up. When we love God and His name so much that it affects our behaviour, then our repentance is real.
When the tongue, which is a tough thing to tame, is backed up by the way we live, then we have true repentance. And true repentance brings blessing - even to nations.
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
