Repenting Clears the Way for Life

I am visiting one of the many foundational principles of the Christian faith which I find is often partially understood: Repentance. John the Baptist was sent before Christ proclaiming, “Repent, and prepare the way for the Lord!”

3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. (Matthew 3:3)

This call of John the Baptist was a call to remove any obstructions that were already known to be contrary to the will of GOD. Christ was coming with the gospel of reconciliation, and a requisite of reconciliation is the work of repentance. Repentance means to accept or take hold of the will of GOD. The original Greek word for repentance is metanoeó and it means “change of mind” or “change of heart”. Change implies replacement of something with something else that is different. If you are holding a rope that is pulling you southward, and a rope comes along with an equal force pulling northward and you take hold of it, the only way you will change directions is to let go of the rope that was pulling southward. Your heart and mind determine the force that will pull you. Our Savior taught that where a man’s treasure is, there His heart will be also. When a man loves the kingdom of GOD, once he hears the word of truth, he will let go of everything else so that he can be pulled North to the Kingdom of Heaven. If he loves this present world and his own life, when he hears the word of GOD, he will resent it and continue to be pulled southward to hell and destruction.

The Kingdom of GOD comes to us to establish His values and standards towards the way everlasting. If you don’t understand who GOD is, you will not recognize the weightiness of what He commands. This is why holy scripture teaches that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7)

You can’t really understand anything in the right perspective or narrative until you reconcile with the supremacy of the Creator. To reconcile means to become congruent with or level with foundationally. Until your basis of living and knowing have been brought in line with the supreme standards of GOD, you are lost and off balance because your perspectives and narratives on life are yet skewed. The fear of the Lord is recognizing that YOU must change to align with life as ordered by His words. I emphasize “you” must change because historically man has compromised or perverted the revelation of GOD to fit man. This is why the world is overrun with “Golden Calves” or religious idols. Christ taught that eternal life is to know Him and the Father who sent Him, and those two are one with the Holy Spirit. The three in one make up the GOD-head. So, GOD is life and what He expresses is the Word of life. Those who treasure life, treasure the Word of GOD and repent to make way for Him.