What is Repentance?

Scripture: Luke 13:5, "I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

Observation: What does repentance mean? I think we have lost the meaning of the word. On dictionary.com here is what it says about repent: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/repent. It says to feel sorry for a past action, only a few times did it say to make a change. True repentance is not just confessing sin, it is making a 180 degree U turn. I have said it before and I love this. Martin Luther's firt of his 95 theses was "When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said "Repent", He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance." We all sin and every day the posture of our heart should be in humble repentance to God. When we truly repent we are telling God that we can't do this on our own.

Application: I find that I usually just confess sin and don't truly make a change. Repentance is not just feeling sorry that we caught. It is trusting fully in the work of Jesus to change our hearts and minds to be more like him.

Prayer: Lord, you alone are worthy of glory. I confess that so many times I just confess and don't trust you to change my heart. I thank you for the work of Jesus on the cross that allows me to have a new heart and new mind. Give me strength today to have a clean mind and a pure heart, Amen.