21 Days of Deep LivingSample

New Heart, New Start

King David, a man who mostly walked uprightly with God and did everything the Lord had commanded him to do – had sinned.

He hated the commandment of the Lord – not to commit adultery or murder - and did what was evil in God’s Sight when he took Bathsheba to be his wife after having her husband Uriah killed. After Bathsheba mourned the death of her husband Uriah, David took her home to the palace and she became one of his wives. Bathsheba bore him a son and David thought everything in his own eyes had gone well as planned. But the Lord was unhappy with what David had done so He sent Nathan to him to confront him about his sins.

In our focus Scripture, David realizes how dreadfully he has sinned against God. He confesses his sins and asks God to blot out his transgressions and wash him from his iniquities. David was asking God to help him make a new start.

What dirt is to the body, sin is to our inner being. It was right for David to feel tainted because by committing adultery and murder, he had wilfully rebelled against God. David knew the Truth of God’s Word and loved it, yet he deliberately broke God’s Law. For many of us today, although we might not go to the extent of literally committing adultery or murdering anyone physically, there are things we do and thoughts that we have in our minds daily that are not pleasing to God.

When we think about repentance, often we think of it as a term we use to say that we’re sorry for something that we have done.

For many believers, when we first come to know Christ, there is a realization in us that we have done some bad things in our lifetime. We’re often invited to recite a ‘sinner’s prayer’ where we acknowledge our wrongs and then ask Jesus to come into our hearts and forgive us. Repentance is more than feeling guilt or sorrow. We can say that we’re sorry for the consequences of our actions, but it does not always lead to our hearts and minds being changed.

Repentance involves us:

1. Admitting that we are wrong
2. Asking God to help us try to make things right
3. Changing our thinking to avoid us making the same mistakes

Upon realizing that we have sinned, do we ask for mercy from God like King David did? Or do we blame others, give all sorts of excuses, try to avoid God, or try to cover up our sins?

Genuine repentance will involve us feeling pain, sorrow, or regret for something we have done or said. When we genuinely repent to Jesus – not just with the words that come out of our lips but feeling heavy in our inner man, God hears us. As we draw closer to Him, although it may not seem apparent at first, He is at work in us and will help us to change our lives.

Using King David as our example, we should acknowledge our sins and cry out to God. We should ask Him for mercy, forgiveness, and for the Power of His Holy Spirit to help us lead our lives in a way that is pleasing to Him daily.