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full repentance

Deuteronomy 30:1-3 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 30:1 “When all these things happen to you — the empowerments and afflictions I have set before you — and you come to your senses while you are in all the nations where Yahveh your God has driven you,
Deuteronomy 30:2 and you and your children return to Yahveh your God and obey him with all your heart and all your throat by doing everything I am commanding you today,
Deuteronomy 30:3 then he will restore your fortunes, have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the peoples where Yahveh your God has scattered you.

full repentance

We Christians are often guilty of casually throwing around the word repentance as if it is a simple thing. But the repentance Moses was talking about was a complicated set of actions and reactions. It involved…

• …recognizing how good they had it when God was blessing them for their obedience,
• …recognizing that the tough times they were now experiencing were also signs from God, calling them to change,
• …returning to God and recommitting to following his covenant (as families),
• …obeying the commands associated with the covenant wholeheartedly,
• …patiently waiting in faith for their restoration, and
• …preparing themselves for God’s promise of restoration.

Repentance is not a simple reset. Just as rebellion against God takes more than a simple act of the will, so recovery will take more than simply admitting one’s sin. It starts with that, but there is much more to it.

Lord, we beg for your forgiveness, and ask you to show us how to walk in full repentance.