U-Turn

A young man I know tried his best to satisfy himself with drugs, alcohol, sex, and such things.

One day he found himself in prison for stealing. There he had plenty of time to think back on his life. He had been raised by Christian parents and knew all about God and Jesus Christ, about right and wrong. He became sorry for what he had done and about all the people he had hurt. However, once freed, he went back to the same lifestyle.

Caught stealing again, he was returned to prison. Feeling sorry again for what he had done, he vowed he would never go back to what he knew to be wrong. He would try and do his best to "straighten out".

After his release from prison he struggled to keep away from drugs, alcohol, and crime. Finding the temptations much too strong, he landed in prison for the third time.

It finally dawned on him that he had no power of his own to change. In desperation, he called on God for help. He turned over his life to Jesus Christ, confessing his sins to Him, submitting to Him as Lord of his life. He repented!

Repentance is not just feeling sorry for yourself, or what you have done, or for hurting others, or for getting caught. It is directing your regrets to God first, realizing that you have sinned against a holy God. It is making a U-TURN in your heart, agreeing with God about your sin and rebellion. Only then can God make a change in your life!

God is very concerned (more than you are) about where your life is heading. He says, "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out" (Acts 3:19). The Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son, says, "I did not come to call the righteous (those who say they are good but aren't), but sinners (those who realize they are such), to repentance" (Mark 2:17).

Maybe you feel that you have led a fairly decent life-better than most, perhaps. But according to the Bible, "all have sinned" (Romans 3:23).

God gives us only two choices: the FIRST is as Jesus expressed it in Luke 13:3, "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." The reason is that "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). To continue in sin, leaving God out of your heart and life, eventually results in eternal punishment in hell.

SECOND choice: God wants "all men [and women and children] everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30 [includes all, regardless of age or gender]). Change your attitude and call upon the Lord Jesus Christ. When you trust Him as Savior, God wipes away your sin and gives you eternal life. "The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). This is possible because Jesus Christ died for each one of us to cleanse us from sin, and on the third day He arose from the grave.

God waits patiently for you to come to Him. He won't force you to come because He wants you to come by choice. The Lord "is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).

Why don't you make a U-TURN in your heart and enjoy that peace and satisfaction that can come in no other way? Then God can make that U-TURN in your life that you are unable to make!

-T. Hadley