Devotional -May 14, 2004

Growing up in a Christian home and attending church since being on the Cradle Roll, I've seen a lot of little tracts designed to explain the Gospel to someone whose lost. But I never noticed the absence of repentance, sometimes called, "attitude reversal," in those presentations until someone asked my opinion of the veracity of the material. When I started looking closely at some tracts and noticed the prevailing problem, I also saw the glaring absence of a ending declaration like the one Jesus made to the adulterous woman.

"Go and sin no more!" What was Jesus expecting of the woman caught in sin? Surely he wasn't expecting her to never sin again after being forgiven. Repentance is what proves a person humbly receives forgiveness for their sin or if they view forgiveness as a "permission" slip to sin again with impunity?

Jesus isn't looking for perfection. He knows as we do, that in our sin nature, we're constantly looking for ways to do the wrong thing. Then when we inevitably find it, God wants to know if our heart is broken or if we're just sorry we got caught. Solomon put it this way: "The Lord detests the way of the wicked, but he loves those who pursue righteousness." (Pr 15:9) I might ad to that, "God loves the sinner, but he loves the repentant even more."

Where are you right now in regard to a repentant attitude? Are you ever looking for whatever offends God ot are you just heading down the road until you get caught?

I pray we'll learn the forgiveness of the woman who came to Jesus that day. But I also pray we'll take the issue of repentance more seriously and not become a repeat offender. In any case, I'm thankful there's no "Three-strikes - you're out" in God's justice system.

1 Developed from Read the Bible Thru ( 1Sa. 15:1-16:23 Jn.8:1-20 Ps. 110:1-7 Pr. 15:8-10 )
2. Scripture comes from the Holy Bible, New International Version; (c)1978 by New York International Bible Society