Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more. — Judges 10:13
Growing up, I remember many times that I was like most kids and did things I shouldn’t have. On quite a few of these occasions, my parents would catch me doing something that they told me that I should not do. The end result was some type of punishment. I hated that. Not only was I caught, but now I had to pay the price for what I did.
Truly, we can probably all relate to this scenario in some fashion. Often, we are caught doing what we should not be doing. Sometimes, we are the only one that suffers. At other times, our situation involves others. Those were some of the more difficult times for me. Why? Because I had to say that I was sorry. I’ll never forget the words of my dad, “you can stay there and think about what you’ve done until you are truly sorry.”
Repenting is not the easiest thing to do. It’s an open admission of doing something wrong. It is letting go of all your pride and admitting that you have failed to do what you should have. In this story, the Children of Israel started following other gods, rather than the true God. Rather than truly being sorry and repenting, they went through a motion of repentance. God wouldn’t have it. He would no longer deliver them without true repentance. They were faced with a decision, repent or regret.
Sometimes life places circumstances in front of us where we face a similar decision. Perhaps it is sin in our lives where we lose our closeness with God. Perhaps we put other things in front of God in our lives. Maybe we have wronged someone. Maybe we have broken their trust or lied. Whatever the situation, we find ourselves needing to repent or facing regret.
There is a danger in repentance. It should be real and from our hearts. Failure to repent leads to future regret. We may say “sorry” or “forgive me” casually but not mean it. God wants true repentance from us. It is better to swallow our pride and repent than to live with years of regret.
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