Luke 13 -- Repentance

Twice Jesus said, “Unless you change your hearts and lives, you will be destroyed.”  Hearts speaks of internal desires while lives speaks of external actions.  He’s giving us a huge clue here – it’s not good enough just to suppress our actions.  We also have to squelch the desires that lead to those actions if we are ever going to whip sin.

In verses 6-9, Jesus tells the story of a fig tree that has never produced fruit.  The owner tells his servant to cut it down.  The servant asks for one more year to work on the tree, to fertilize it and loosen the ground around the roots in an effort to coax it to do what it was meant to do.  Then, if it fails to produce, he will remove it.  My commentary said this is a testimony to God’s grace and longsuffering with us.  However, it also indicates that there is a limit to God’s mercy and grace, and we must never presume upon it.

In the sidebar this morning by Charles Stanley, it says that the first stage in the recovery process is repentance – not just “Lord, I’m sorry,” but “Lord, I have sinned against You.”  We have to acknowledge our guilt and recognize that our sin was against God.  “Repentance requires total honesty with God.  You know, we won’t always be holy, but we can always be honest.  I believe God is looking for us to be honest about our sin – honest about our weaknesses, our failures, and our frustrations.  Honesty promotes fellowship.  As long as we continue to be open and honest with God, He can continue to work with us, even after our most grievous sin.”

Father, I never will be able to hide sin from You.  You know me better than I know myself.  When I sin, help me to admit it.  Help me to not simply say, “I’m sorry I messed up,” but instead to say as David did, “Against You and You alone have I sinned.”  Lead me to be open and honest with You about my weaknesses, my failures, and my frustrations.  Help me to want to change my heart and my life.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford