Repent!

Return to Him against whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. For in that day every man shall throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold—sin, which your own hands have made for yourselves. Isaiah 31:6-7

Return to Him is the call in the Bible from about Genesis 3 to Revelation 22. In the New Testament it is known as repentance, and in the OT it is the same thing. "Repent and be saved!" call the apostles of the Lord after the Pentecost. "Return to the Lord!" call the prophets after Israel. Those who know of the Lord God are called throughout history to return to Him. Even those of us who are saved by the Lamb are called to return daily to the Lord for we still have this old nature, a fellow passenger on the road to the Promised Land, who wants to trip us up and lay us low in the pleasures of the world. Repent! the call comes to those whom God loves.

Yes, I too once hoped that after the salvation thing we were free to do just any old thing. The flesh and the Devil would very much like us to believe that. However, there is our testimony which can be damaged by our sinful actions and thoughts. People who are curious about the Lord and His salvation watch us, and they take note of the stumbles and falls. It isn't that we are not forgiven for every sin from birth to death. It is that we love our neighbors and want the cleanest testimony to show them. We have plenty of examples already of how we were in our sins and how our Lord forgave them. Perhaps we can store up a few in Christ where we don't have to begin the story with what we did wrong?

Following the Lord who leads us in His righteousness,

Bucky