Repent – Proverbs 28

“He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.” – Proverbs 28:13

Some people tend to think of belief in Jesus as the ultimate self-help solution – good for fixing all those little annoyances that are keeping us from our best life. Through him we are saved from a life of ordinariness and mediocrity and elevated into a happier, more perfect experience of life on this earthly sphere.

I suppose you could make an argument that there is truth in there somewhere, but when you dig it out and examine it, that’s a pretty poor description of what salvation really is.

The problem is that our modern minds are very uncomfortable with the idea of sin. Salvation from sin is at the heart of the gospel.

Did Jesus begin his preaching with the notion that God loves you and wants you to live your best life? How about the apostles? What was step one in their gospel presentation?

The first word, at least the first word in their call to action, always seemed to be repent.

Repent and be baptised.

Repent and believe.

If you look up the word repent in the popular online dictionaries, the only meaning they seem to feature is “to regret.” They eliminate the second crucial step in true repentance.

Repentance isn’t just, “I wish I hadn’t done that.” It’s also, “And I’m never doing that again.”

Confession and renunciation. Just like Proverbs 28:13. This is where true salvation happens.

“He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.” – Proverbs 28:13

Please be sure to read the chapter of Proverbs from which this devotional is taken. The point of these posts is to inspire or remind you to dig into Proverbs for yourself. May God bless you and give you strength and wisdom to live your best life for him!