Re.. what?

     The eyes portrayed what I suspected -- confusion.  I'd tried to keep my explanation brief and to the point for his age, but still I could tell I wasn't getting through.  Finally, it came . . .

     "Is what you did right or wrong in God's eyes?" I asked

     "Wrong," came the quiet answer.

     "So when we know something we've done is wrong, we need to tell God we're sorry and change the way we think about it so we'll want to do it right, God's way.  That's repentance."

     I imagine someone may think it foolish to try to explain repentance to a five year old, or maybe it even seems out of style, old-fashioned; but if we are believers in Jesus Christ then not ONE WORD in the Bible can ever become out of date (the translations may change to make it easier to understand but the truths captured within never will)!

     The Message describes repentance as, "changing our ways and turning to God" and I can't think of a more valuable lesson for our children to understand in this day and age. 

     We're surrounded with a culture that believes there are NO absolutes -- that we "do" based on how we "feel".  That is not God's truth.

     It's our job to prepare these young ones of today to be the older ones of tomorrow.  That must include understanding their need for repentance.

     Repentance is not a one time experience when we come to Christ and ask Him to remove our sin . . . it's an ongoing way of life.  Part of a spiritual discipline in our own personal lives that causes us to be continually reflecting on the state of our hearts and asking God to reveal what we need to turn a full 180 degrees, not just 90 degrees, as we may prefer.

     God's been working something out recently in my own life and I've needed to repent of it more than once or twice, BUT I know He will have His way in the end, as I continue to turn it over to Him.  The challenge is that once God graciously helps me work out one thing, He will show me the next thing He would like to help me work on, but I recognize that this is the way it needs to be.

     Don't ever become discouraged with the process -- on this side of eternity, in our imperfect bodies, we need God to keep chipping away at our sin -- so we can move ahead in a rich journey with Him. 

     A promise found in Acts 3 rests within our quest for repentance, it says that we are delivered into times of refreshing . . . I don't know about you, but refreshing is something I know I need to experience on an on-going basis.  Praying that you, too, will experience God's restoring and refreshment no matter where you find yourself today.

"Repent, then, turn to God,

so that your sins may be wiped

out, that times of refreshing may

come from the Lord."

Acts 3:19