I am the father of four boys. They are all men now, but before they were men, they were teenagers. Anyone who has raised teenagers knows it is hard to raise teenagers without raising your voice. I’m sure people have done it, but I will freely confess I was not one of them. Along the way, I said things I regret to this day, but one day I blurted out something in the heat of the moment that immediately bounced back at me, and it has come back to haunt me many times since.
One day, in frustration, I said, “If nothing has changed, nothing has happened!” This caught in my throat the minute I said it. I knew I wasn’t just talking to my son, but God was talking to me.
That brings me to the topic I want to discuss today.
According to the Gospel of Mark, Jesus began his ministry by preaching the following message:
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:15 [ESV]
If you have been a Christian for a while or have had any exposure to Christianity, you will be very familiar with the word “repent.” Despite this, many in the Church today forget or neglect the central role repentance and the kingdom play in the gospel. Repentance is the core of Jesus’ message. We all need to change if we wish to be part of the kingdom of God.
Repent is a word found in both the Old and New Testaments. The Hebrew word that is generally translated repent has the idea of turning around and going in the other direction, while the Greek word used in the New Testament leans a bit more toward the idea of changing your mind and attitude. When you look at these words in context, it’s clear that both kinds of change are required.
Change of Mind
Change must begin in the mind and heart, or no genuine change of direction can occur. Paul says it this way in Romans 12.
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2[ESV]
We must allow our thinking to be transformed, and our minds renewed. This world and our base desires conspire every day to warp our thinking, which will inevitably warp our lives. But if you look more carefully at the entire passage, you see that simply thinking new thoughts is not enough to bring about real change.
This passage begins by telling us to give our bodies as living sacrifices, and ends with the phrase, “that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Change of Direction
This takes me back to the thought I began with. If nothing has changed, nothing has happened. We are drowning in information, both good and bad. It is easy to confuse hearing something inspiring with genuine change. We have learned nothing until it becomes a part of us. Knowledge is best thought of as embodied truth. Until we live the truth and it becomes a part of us, we don’t know the truth; we have only heard it.
We will know the truth, as we do the truth.
This Week
The Biblical Core Course I teach requires students to make a final application of a timeless truth they have discovered in the text they are studying. I often tell them that I would rather see them immediately do one simple thing in obedience to that truth than make some elaborate plan for the future that never happens. The purpose of the final application is to build a habit—a habit of responding physically to the truth. Because, “You will know the truth, as you do the truth.”
This week, let’s study, pray, and immediately do each small thing God leads us to do. As we develop this habit of obedience, God will change both our minds and our lives.
Have a great week!
