repentance - sincere regret or remorse. I went on a mission tour to Jackson Hole Wyoming a few years ago. On that trip we were serving a church in the town that was located at the foot of the big ski mountain for Jackson Hole. Since we were there in the summer, no snow was to be found and we hiked up and down that mountain quite a few times. Looking up the mountain it seemed tall and majestic, but looking down it took on a whole new view, STEEP! I'm not too good with heights so I kept my feet on solid ground and safe with a strong intent for survival. Our group decided we were going to have some "fun" one day and went to the concrete luge run that goes down the mountain. Everyone was anticipating this very fast trip down the hill on this incredible looking luge they used only in the summer months. I was not so anxious for what was to come and actually thought about sitting it out, but felt I would be labeled a chicken, which was very accurate that day. We went to the top of the luge and readied ourselves for the trip down. Once again, at the top of the mountain the word "steep" applied easily to what I was looking at and I was really regretting the prospects of going down the hill. The worker assured me it was safe, so I climbed in the little seat of the luge, eyeing the brake he said I could use if going too fast. I put my hand on that brake first, and then proceeded to lift a strong prayer for safety to Jesus. I'm sure He was probably laughing at the funny way I was perceiving this ride and how scared I was to go down. Then it happened. The worker released my cart and as I began going down the hill I thought, "This isn't so bad." But that is when the hilll took a turn almost straight down and my luge cart tripled it's speed, so here I go....screaming uncontrollably. It seemed like I was flying as I approached the first curve and I was sure I was going to fly of the track and plant myself in the nearest tree....but I didn't. As I barely made it around the first curve the hill took another downward angle and that's when I thought, "I regret getting on this thing!" At that moment it became more survival to get to the bottom than enjoying the ride and my little time of "fun" turned into something very stressful and bad. Of course, I made it fine and acted like everything was great and even commented on how amazing the whole ride was, but I was lying. I didn't think it was amazing at all and regretted even getting on it. One of the workers said, "You gonna ride again?" To which I replied, NO!! I spent the rest of the afternoon cheering on the others who were finishing their rides. Regret drove me to repentance. I felt like I had made the biggest mistake of my life getting on that luge and regretted whatever it was that took me there. I also felt great remorse for putting my life in that situation and decided not to ever do that again. But I did. A few years later I ended up on the bottom of a rope connected to a bungee tower, and looking up I thought, "why am I doing this?" Once again, regret and remorse as I coaxed myself to the end of the plank and jumped 85 feet off a tower and bungee jumped. You would think that the regret and remorse of going on that luge was strong enough to make me not even get near another thrill seeking event, but over time I forgot that terrible fear and fell into the daredevil trap again. When will I ever learn?
Webster's definition of repentance is true, but it falls short of the Biblical Mandate given to each of us who need to repent. There is one more step. Turning the other way and walking off, never to come back again. When I completed the Luge I continued to watch others come down having a great time and I it lessened the affect of the scare I got when I went on it because I saw others having a great time because they were not fearful of it. Had I turned and walked down the hill with my fear still frozen in my heart, it would have gone a long way toward nixing the next thrill event. The part Webster's leaves out is walking away. Change your direction. It's the same way for Christians as we have the thrill of the moment many times drawing us into doing something that is not right or dangerous for our faith and the whole time we know it's wrong but we attempt it anyway. When conviction comes we repent by making a comment to not do it again, but we should also be walking away or changing direction. Let me put it in easy terms, if satan tempts you to go north, you go south. If satan tempts you to do something from your former nature, you turn to God for something from your new nature. When I accepted Christ I turned from my old way of living and walked into a new way of living and I am headed in that same direction today. I am tempted regularly to turn back the other way, but that is not who I am and it is scarey and unfamiliar now to me because Christ is in my life now and all things have changed. Repentance is real and lasting if we actually do the whole thing. Turn and walk away. Change Your Direction. Too many Christians still want to do the thrill seeking thing in life by living on the edge, but the edge you are living on is already on the wrong side of where you should be. You know it's scarey, but you think you can handle it, but you can't. Time to Change Your Direction and go the opposite way. Paul wrote to the church in Pilippi about some who lived on the edge and what that caused. Phlippians 3: 18 There are many out there taking other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them. I've warned you of them many times; sadly, I'm having to do it again. All they want is easy street. They hate Christ's Cross. 19 But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites. 20 But there's far more to life for us. We're citizens of high heaven! We're waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He'll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.
The questionable life of those who are living their life on the edge is a life that experiences weak repentance at best and fall back into doing the same wrong thing again and again. But you do the right thing. Don't straddle the fence in your commitment to the Lord. Strive for Godliness, not Worldliness and see the wonderful plans God has for a live going in the right direction.
The Pilgrimage continues.....
David Warren
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