365 Days with God - Day 56: Righteous Repentance

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 56, February 14, 2014

Readings: Psalm 56, Genesis 50:15-26, 2 Chronicles 29, Acts 23:12-35 Acts 24:1-27

Have you ever felt like a disappointment to God? Wondered what He thought of you? Looked at your life and thought, "There's no way he could love a messed up wreck like me. What if I'm doing all the wrong things? What if I should be doing x, but I'm doing y? Am I good enough? Does He really love me?"

Friends, there is wonderful and beautiful news for you.

No matter what, this is still truth: God sent His only son, Jesus, to die for you. Knowing exactly who you are, more than you know yourself. Knowing exactly what you've done and will do. There's no hiding of the truth from God, nothing He does not know about you. He knows everything - and He still chose to sacrifice Himself for us. For you. There is nothing you can do that would change that. And there's nothing you could do to make Him love you more.

The question still remains though - what do you do when you're feeling disconnected? Or you've never connected with God before? He has made the first move - He sent Jesus for us. He opened the door, made the sacrifice, and has invited us to join Him. In the Old Testament, the Jewish people would make a covenant with God, a commitment to love and serve Him. God had already made His commitment to the people, as He has done with us. He has committed everything to this covenant, His most precious Son. How will we respond?

In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them. He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square o the east and said to them, "Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the LORD, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place. For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the LORD our God. They have forsaken him and turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD and turned their backs. (2 Chronicles 29:3-6)

When we find ourselves estranged from God, or even feeling that way - it's not because God has abandoned us. It's not because He is disappointed and is acting passive-aggressive, hoping we'll take note. No, God is there. God is pursuing us. We are the ones who have broken the connection. We have been unfaithful. He is waiting. He is waiting for us to open the doors of our hearts, and to remove the filth that we brought in.

So when you feel distanced from God, when you want to know Him, all you have to do is open the doors. Get on your knees. Pray that He would show you where the disconnect is. Pray that He would cleanse your heart, and bring you into a righteous relationship with Him. Friends, this is repentance. God loves and cares for us, and has done everything He can to bring us close to Him. It's time to open the doors.