March 2018 - What is true repentance?

What is true repentance? All through the Old Testament we meet people who, when they truly repented, would put on sackcloth. Picture in your mind a potato sack with holes in it. There are holes for the arms and a hole for the head and bailing string pulling it together at the waist. Now, picture you wearing it. Would you come to church like that? People did in Old Testament times. Of course, when people saw them they would think, "Whoa, that person sure is going through some serious soul-searching." The whole point of wearing the sackcloth was to show that the person was rejecting the externals. They would take off their fine clothes and wear sacks instead. Then they would take ashes out of the fire bed and smear the soot on their faces and throw it over their head. They were covering themselves in "funeral gray." In effect they were saying, "I don't care about looking the part anymore. I don't want an 'A' for appearance. I want the real thing in my heart. I don't want to just look right with God, I want to BE right with God. I don't care what it takes. I'm done with posing and posturing. I don't want to arrive at church in my Sunday best and look good for the crowd. I am not going to be a phony any longer. I'm going after the real thing." That's true repentance. True repentance is more than just saying "I'm sorry. I'll try harder next time." True repentance is a demonstration of humility.