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Repentance
21
Every time we give in to Satan, we turn more from God. A person
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who finally will not listen to or obey God’s word is but reaping the
result of his own choices. In the Bible we read Solomon’s most wise
but terrible warning about playing around with evil. He wrote, “The
sins of the wicked are a trap. They get caught in the net of their own
sin.”
Proverbs 5:22
.
Christ is ready to set us free from sin, but He does not force us
to stop sinning and choose His way. If we do not desire to be free, if
we will not accept His grace, what more can He do? We will destroy
ourselves by turning away from His love. Paul wrote, “Listen! This
is the hour to receive God’s favor. Today is the day to be saved!” “If
you hear God’s voice today, do not be stubborn.”
2 Corinthians 6:2
;
Hebrews 3:7, 8
.
God said that people “look on the outward appearance, but I
look at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7
. In our hearts, with all their joys
and sorrows, is much that is impure and dishonest. But God knows
our desires. He knows what we want to do. We must go to Him,
all stained with sin, and open ourselves to His all-seeing eyes. We
should say, as David did, “Examine me, O God, and know my mind;
test me, and discover my thoughts. Find out if there is any evil in
me and guide me in the everlasting way.”
Psalm 139:23, 24
.
Many of us accept God with our minds, but our hearts are not
changed. We should pray, “Create a pure heart in me, O God, and
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put a new and loyal spirit in me.”
Psalm 51:10
. We must be honest
with ourselves. We must be as sincere in this as if our very lives
were in danger. It is a matter to be settled between us and God—and
settled forever. Hope without action will not save us.
We should study God’s Word and pray. His Word teaches us
about the law of God. It tells us about the life of Christ and how to
be holy. “Try to live a holy life, because no one will see the Lord
without it.”
Hebrews 12:14
. God’s Word makes us feel how terrible
sin is, and it shows us how to be saved. We must listen to it and obey
it, for it is God speaking to us.
As we see how terrible sin is we see ourselves as we really are.
But we must not lose hope and become discouraged. Christ came to
save sinners. We do not need to try to get God to be our friend and
love us. He already loves us and is “making all human beings his
friends through Christ.”
2 Corinthians 5:19
.