Repentance and Joy “Your sins have been forgiven.” (Luke 7:48) How often do we take this simple statement of Yeshua’s for granted? Have we placed ourselves comfortably out of reach, where we no longer respond personally when we hear these words from our Redeemer? Once while counseling someone who was heartbroken by his own sin and the mess he had made of his life, I reflected on my own condition. “How am I different?” I wondered. The prophets of old proclaimed the central achievement of Messiah: “making an end of sin.” (Dan. 9:24) God has promised, “I will forgive their wickednesses and remember their sins no more.” (Jer. 31:34) “By his knowing (pain and sacrifice), my righteous servant makes many righteous.” (Isa. 53:11) If we have forgotten the blessedness of being forgiven (“How blessed are those whose offense is forgiven, those whose sin is covered!” [Psalms 32:1]), we have drifted alarmingly off course. Our relationship with the Most High began with dramatic cleansing, atonement, and transformation from the darkness of self-will to the light of His chosen path for us. We can only find peace in our own spirits and joy amidst the evil of the world by doing what the sin-forgiven woman did. She washed Yeshua’s feet with tears of repentance and joy, anointing them with the fragrant oil of loving worship. Repenting of our sins will transform our lives every day. Today I will …carry with me the above words of my Master, Who Himself bore my sins. I will take deeply to heart that each of my many sins has been forgiven. From The Voice of the Lord: Messianic Jewish Daily Devotional. This excerpt is by Eitan Shishkoff, congregational leader of Ohalei Rachamim Congregation in Israel.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Aug 2013 20:44:52 +0000
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