Recalibrating

Blessed [forgiven, refreshed by God’s grace] are those who mourn [over their sins and repent], for they will be comforted [when the burden of sin is lifted]. (Matthew 5:4)

I cannot take God's grace for granted - how about you? I still find myself calling upon that grace daily. There is no end to our need for his grace. Have you ever thought of grace as 'refreshing'? When someone is refreshed by grace, new has come, something 'different' begins within one's spirit, soul, and mind. Sometimes God doesn't even 'reinvigorate' the old - he completely removes it!

I have had moments when I feel 'sorrow' over my misdeeds, but I haven't really repented for them. The act of changing one's mind is often referred to as repentance. If all action begins in the mind, that could be a good place to start. If the work of changing one's mind is being done in your own effort, you might just find it is harder than you imagined! A lot of us feel some form of 'regret' or 'remorse' when we have done something wrong, but that isn't repentance. It is likely guilt!

Repentance involves more than confession. If we are to be truthful here, we have likely 'confessed' our sins to God many times without truly making any change in the direction our lives are heading. It is as though we want our 'feelings' of guilt to be assuaged, but we don't really want to make any lasting change of direction. If we examine scripture, repentance has always involved a breaking with the past and a new course being set before us.

The burden of sin is lifted when we truly repent. A change of mindset may be one thing, but moving forward in a totally different direction is another. The true 'refreshing' comes when we both confess (acknowledge our sin) and repent (turn away from it, choosing a different course of action moving forward). The heart wants change - the will resists it. We would do well to ask God to 'recalibrate' our will so it matches our new (refreshed) mindset. Just sayin!