In today's Psalm, the Psalmist declares:
Sing to the LORD, bless his name;....Declare his glory among the nations....
How do we bless the One who has provided everything? How do we bless the Creator who blesses us? How do we declare God's glory?
The book of Daniel offers us a glimpse into an important element of this-----repentance.
Often, we think of God's forgiveness as merely an eraser. We feel badly about what we've done, so we ask God to forgive us.....and God does.
But, repentance isn't about merely saying we are sorry; it's about change, transformation, metanoia. Repentance means we turn around; we do a 180. We change our ways. We return to God.
Daniel prays to God as the voice of Israel:
All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice.
Step one in repentance is to recognize our error and to own up to it.....to seek forgiveness.
Step two is to turn away from the evil we have done. To choose another way of being.
Step three is to begin to live in that other way---the Jesus way---with God at the center and sacrificial love as our method of living.
And these three steps repeat over and over because this is no easy task. But, by repeating these steps---by making repentance part of our daily discipline and our rule of life---we are changed and transformed. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to become more and more like our Lord--putting others first and asserting God with our words and actions. Our rough edges are smoothed; our dark places are removed. Our hearts are pierced with the love of God and our very being is opened to the possibility of a new way, a new life.
Make repentance a part of your everyday prayer life.
Sing to the LORD, bless his name;....Declare his glory among the nations....
No comments:
Post a Comment