Saturday, 10th July 2021 :: The transformed life calls for repentance from the heart
Text: Joel 2:1-17
The Prophet Joel spoke this perhaps in the middle of the 800 B.C, about Israel and Judah; they were separated from each other, they were still in the land, but they were drifting away from Yahweh. In the passage for today Joel preaches that the people must repent, or they will be destroyed by Yahweh. Repentance means turning away from one direction and going in another. In this passage repentance means turning away from sin and turning to God with love and obedience.
But let us remember that repentance is not a physical action. Rather, repentance is a turning of the heart, a rending of the heart (v.13), which means sorrow, like tearing clothing out of sorrow (Job 2:12). A repentant heart then leads to a repentant and transformed life.
Human effort cannot rend the heart, it cannot turn the heart away from a life of sin and to a life in God. Only the Creator is able to transform hearts. Jesus proved it when He performed the healing miracles. For example, when Lazarus was brought back to life after being dead for four days (John 11), it showed that Jesus was the Creator and Re-creator. Only the Lord can transform a heart that is against God into a heart that lives for God. A transformed heart leads to a transformed life. We must go to the Lord and ask for His re-creating power.
Meditate on verse 13. How are you going to apply it your Life?
Heavenly Father, help me to be genuinely repentant to the glory of Your name. Amen.
