12 Yet even now, says the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13 rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love,
and relenting from punishment. – Joel 2:12-13 (NRSVUE)
Have you ever just wanted a do-over? A fresh start? A new beginning? Ever messed up and hoped to be met with love and forgiveness? Well, there’s good news! The Lord our God not only wants to bless you with a new opportunity, but He even lays out how you can return to His gentle and loving arms.
It all centers on repentance – a word that means to turn around and change direction; to make a conscious decision to change your mind and plot a new course. This repentance, this returning to the Lord is exhibited by both action and emotion. However, it’s not just going through the motions or emotionalism. It’s an inner transformation that is expressed outwardly.
Return to the Lord with full devotion
The Lord demands and deserves more than our half-hearted commitment. When He calls us to return to Him with all our heart, it’s a complete submission and surrender. It’s being totally sold out to follow Him. It’s being so in love with Him that everything else in our lives looks like hate in comparison.
Return to the Lord with fasting
Jesus assumed and implied that we would practice the spiritual discipline of fasting. We don’t fast because we need to punish ourselves for our sin, but because we recognize that the things of this world fail to satisfy and we want more of Jesus, we want to experience a deeper intimacy in our relationship with Him, and we are returning to Him in humility, recognizing our weakness and need for His strength and grace.
Return to the Lord with weeping and mourning
The sin in our life should bring us to a place where we experience true grief and sorrow over the fact that we have broken God’s heart and sinned against Him. This goes much deeper than feeling bad for a few minutes because we got caught or because we fear the consequences. We weep and mourn much like a funeral experience because we recognize that our sin cost Jesus His life and He willingly laid it down for us.
Return to the Lord with a broken heart
It was a common Jewish practice to tear (or rend) their clothing to show God just how sorry they were for the sins they had committed. However, God saw through these rituals and recognized that their hearts had not been changed. Ultimately, the people were putting on a show and then going right back to the same thought patterns and behaviors that God was displeased with. For repentance to be authentic, it must come from a heart that’s truly been broken.
Return to the Lord without fear
There’s a big difference between “I messed up. My dad’s going to kill me” and “I messed up. I need to call my dad.” Too many times we cower in fear because we think God is only interested in punishing us when we mess up. But this text reminds us who He really is. Gracious – giving us what we don’t even deserve. Merciful – meaning He doesn’t give us what we do deserve. Slow to anger – He’s patient and kind. Abounding in love – love flows from Him in an unending supply. Relenting from punishment – it’s the desire of God’s heart that all would return to Him so that they would not perish (2 Peter 3:9). This sounds like a loving heavenly Father that we can come to no matter what we’ve done or where we’ve been and He will embrace us and say “Welcome home!”
Where is the Lord calling you to repent? Is there a new opportunity in front of you today to return to the Lord?