1 Kings 8:46-51
Verse 47 “…and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with You in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’;”
A change of heart is a good beginning but that is merely the start of repentance. Once we have knowledge of our sin and have turned our heart against the sin, we must repent of it showing God, and maybe even those around us, that we are serious about our desire to leave our sin in the past and live as God has called us to live.
Not wanting to continue in our sin should be a point we all come to in life whether about the “smaller” sins of gossip or the “larger” sins of blaspheme and such. Being repentant for our sins should show in the sorrow we have for those sins. We aren’t turning from our sin simply because we know God hates the sin but because through our love of Him we have come to hate that sin as well.
For us to come to a place of hating the sin we must look at the sin and see the damage it does to us and our relationship with God and others. Meaning we can’t repent flippantly. True repentance comes when we understand how awful our sin is and how much it hurts our relationship with the Lord and the witness we are to those around us. We like to think our sin only affects us but truth is, it has a ripple effect.
We mentioned earlier how we have to repent to God and our key verse for the day takes it a step further as Solomon prays saying the sinner should repent and plead with God. The idea of pleading isn’t something we may think about regarding our sins. We are all geared up for pleading with Him about the requests we have for Him but it may make us feel a bit uneasy if we think about pleading with Him about where we have failed Him.
When we plead with Him about our sins it says we understand who we have sinned against. Our sins are sins because they go against Him and His law, so it is Him we have wronged and need to plead for forgiveness from. The truth is, other than His promise to do so, He has no reason to forgive us. We need to come to the realization sin is not something God takes lightly just because He has given us His amazing grace.
Making It Personal
Have you ever pleaded with God about your sin? What sins in your life have caused you sorrow? What do you need to repent of today?
Making It Personal Kids
What does it mean to plead? How much do you hate sin in your life? What does Jesus want you to repent of today?
Closing Prayer
Father, we repent of not taking our sin serious enough and not taking Your holiness as serious as we should. Give us hearts which weep at sin and we plead with You to forgive us and teach us what it means to be holy. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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