A Different Direction

This is the time of year when people make new years resolutions. They want to change the way they are living and go a different way. The word repent comes to mind. It means to go in the opposite direction. One definition of insanity is to do the same thing and expect a different result. Most resolutions are never carried out and people, many times, go back to doing the same thing they were doing before. I recently saw something in God’s Word that I had not noticed before. I was reading Mark 1:14-15. (14) Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, (15) And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. Jesus told the people to repent and go in a different direction by believing the Gospel. Obviously, they had been doing something different; which in this case was living under the law of Moses but they were not getting the results that Jesus wanted them to get. To repent means to stop and go in the opposite direction. It means to make a 180 degree turn: not a right turn or a left turn but a 180 degree turn. A right turn or a left turn will put you in one ditch or the other but a 180 degree turn will get you going in a completely different direction. When we repent we will be headed toward a different destination. In 2013 we need to decide that we are going to go toward the kingdom of God and away from the way of the world. The world is going in the wrong direction. We might be touched by the things going on in the world but we do not have to be defeated. Psalms 23:5-6 says: (5) Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. (6) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. We have a table prepared for us regardless what is going on in the world. We can expect goodness and mercy to follow us all the days of our lives. This is the gospel or the good news. In 2013 lets go in the direction of victory, goodness, and mercy by believing the good news found in God‘s Word. God bless.