January 27

Precious Repentance

There you will remember your ways and all the deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evils you have done. — Ezek 20:43 BSB

When we are accepted by the Lord and are standing in a place of favor, peace, and safety, we are then led to repent of all our failures and wrongdoings toward our gracious God. Repentance is so precious that we may call it a diamond of the highest quality, and it is sweetly promised to God’s people as one of the most sanctifying results of salvation. He who accepts repentance also gives repentance, and He gives it not out of “the bitter box” but from among those “wafers made with honey” on which He feeds His people. A sense of blood-bought pardon and undeserved mercy is the best way to soften a heart of stone. Are we feeling hard-hearted? Let us think of God’s covenant love, and then we will turn away from sin, grieve over it, and loathe it; yes, we will even loathe ourselves for sinning against such infinite love. Let us come to God with this promise of repentance and ask Him to help us remember, repent, regret, and return. Oh, how sweet it would be to feel the melting of holy sorrow! What a relief it would be to shed a flood of tears! Lord, strike the rock, or speak to the rock, and cause the waters to flow!