The fruit of true repentance

Over the past week we have been looking into the bleak darkness of sin. Yet there is hope. Into this darkness, light shines.

"Even now," declares the Lord,"return to me with all your heart,with fasting and weeping and mourning."Rend your heartand not your garments.Return to the Lord your God,for he is gracious and compassionate,slow to anger and abounding in love,and he relents from sending calamity.Joel 2:12-13

These two short verse burst forth with hope.

There is still time - "Even now..." Don't ever think it is too late. Don't ever give up because the moment has passed. Such thoughts are lies of the enemy. As long as we have breath, there is hope.

Make it real -"Rend your heart". We can put on a show and deceive many people. We can look sincere. We can pretend to be sorry. We can go through the motions... especially when we think by doing so we will gain something. But we can't deceive God. He sees beyond the fasting, tears and torn clothes. He examines our hearts. So make it real. Be serious. That means we will need to feel the darkness. To despair. To sense the danger. To know we can't turn this around ourselves. To reckon that we have offended God. And we need to hate our sin. To cast it off. To leave it behind. To run to the one who give us better things. To seek the one who we where made for.

And of course, you can only do this for yourself. For YOUR heart - not your next door neighbours. Not even for your parents, kids or other half. This is personal. Much as we want to see others repent, repentance always begins with us.

Hope in God -"he is gracious and compassionate... he relents" There really is still time. He really is gracious. So make your repentance real, and enjoy the fruit of a renewed, restored relationship with God.