The blizzard of 2010 and various circumstances allowed us to worship at different places this past month. Most of it came in the form of family time and personal reading. But we did deal with a lot of sluggard/laziness during this time. Time just slipped away this month.

So this past Sonship meeting was good in which we continued Chapter 7 on Repentance. True repentance is often confused with fake repentance. Things like groveling, offering sacrifice, blame shifting, coming up with great insight on your sin… these things are not true repentance.

So what does true repentance look like? It is an acknowledgement of your sin, turning to God, asking for forgiveness for specific sins and also seeking help. There is a humility, there is joy, there is knowledge of your forgiveness in Christ and freedom in being no longer in the bondage of sin. There is freedom in knowing that you no longer have to justify or atone for yourself. Christ has done it.

There’s also community when we repent we recognize that we are sinners and that we are no better than other people. We humbly acknowledge that other people’s failings are due to their very definite need for Christ… and so we respond with GRACE. An unrepentant person doesn’t see this. An unrepentant person sees only the sin or failings or weakness of that person. The repentant person sees that it is Christ that the other person needs and calls and prays and leads the other person to Christ in order to restore.

With true repentance will come change, but it will be an internal change that will manifest itself outwardly. It is not the other way around. This all coincided with my re-listening to Tim Keller’s sermon series on the Prodigal Son. He mentioned another thing about true repentance that we see God as beauty rather than duty. My prayers will be more and more adoration for God rather than requests from God. We seek relationship with Him opposed to just his blessings.

Thank you Jesus. This is exactly what I (we) needed for such an extended period of laziness. Lord change me and mold me… to be a son.

Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood;
Would you o’er evil a victory win?
There’s wonderful power in the blood.

There is power, power, wonder working power
In the blood of the Lamb;
There is power, power, wonder working power
In the precious blood of the Lamb.