repent

Opening Prayer: O Lord, allow your word this day to open us up to whatever you long to do within us.  Let it cut us to the heart and make us more into the people you desire us to be.  Amen.

Scripture: Acts 2:37-41

Journal: What has cut you to the heart lately?  Why and how?  Did it bring you to the point of repentance?  What did that look like?

Reflection: Repentance is not an emotion.  It is not feeling sorry for your sins.  It is a decision.  It is deciding that you have been wrong in supposing that you could manage your own life and be your own god; it is deciding that you were wrong in thinking that you had, or could get, the strength, education and training to make it on your own; it is deciding that you have been told a pack of lies about yourself and your neighbors and your world.  And it is deciding that God, in Jesus Christ, is telling you the truth.  Repentance is a realization that what God wants from you and what you want from God are not going to be achieved by doing the same old things, thinking the same old thoughts.  Repentance is a decision to follow Jesus Christ and become his pilgrim in the path of peace. (A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson)

Prayers

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, give us the strength and the courage to follow you more closely—whatever that may look like—from this day forward.  Amen.