“Repentance.” The word carries with it a certain sense of foreboding. It seems an ominous chore, and one not easily reckoned with. Really, though, when framed in the context of the New Testament, it is an invitation into the sweetest kind of rest we could ever possibly imagine.
“Come to me and I will give you rest—all of you who work so hard beneath a heavy yoke. Wear my yoke—for it fits perfectly—and let me teach you; for I am gentle and humble, and you shall find rest for your souls; for I give you only light burdens.” — Matthew 11:28
Trusting in the finished work of Jesus is the only thing that you or I can ever really do that means anything…but trusting…to trust…that means everything.
When I first became a Christian, I didn’t know how to trust anything or anyone, let alone the very God who created the universe, who I didn’t really even understand at all! Somehow, though, even though I didn’t know how to do it, I did do it, and He began to teach me, and to guide me. So, a great adventure began. I began to be fathered by the One who invented everything.
In the heat of this adventure, all the ugly melts away. All the bad stuff turns to dust. These loving interactions between God and the person — this communion made possible by what Jesus did — only this has the power to take away the things that can poison our souls.
Repentance is really nothing more than a wholehearted return to this simple relationship of trust. When we make it more than that, we wreck it. We really do.
