The First Command
The very first demand of Jesus’ public ministry was “Repent.”
He spoke this command indiscriminately to all who would listen.
It was a call for radical inward change toward God….
It was a call for radical inward change away from sin.
When I think of sin, there comes to mind a grim memory of a tragedy my grandmother told me.
She told of seeing a child of three running across the lawn of his house---pursued by his mother.
“Come back, Tommy…..come back” the mother was calling.
“Don’t go into the street!”
But Tommy….reveling in his escape from his fenced-in backyard…had no ears for his mother.
He ran happily between the cars parked along the curb….
….and a passing car tossed his broken body almost into his mother’s arms.
Except that Tommy was too young to be responsible for his actions, this is a story of God and a sinner.
“Come back….come back”….God cries out anxiously with His grace at Lent.
But the sinner…..oblivious to everything except his own pride and desires….shuts out God’s voice….and goes willfully to his death.
God has done everything that even His infinite wisdom can devise in order to bring you to the happiness He wants you to have.
There is just one thing that God cannot do for you.
There is just one part of the plan that only you can perform.
There is one act you must make…..and no one can make it for you.
“Repent.”