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“In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near’” (Matthew 3:1,2).

“‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’” (Mark 1:15).

The Bible is full of warnings which tell us that we must repent. But what does it mean to repent? Let me give you an example. Imagine you’re driving down an unfamiliar, lonely two-land road and you see a sign that says, “Road Closed 1 Mile Ahead.” You think to yourself, “that looks like an old sign that somebody forgot to put away: I can probably ignore it.”

Pretty soon you see another sign that says, “Road Closed 1/2 Mile Ahead.” Frustrated at the highway department for leaving so many signs around, you continue driving. Cresting a slight hill, you come upon temporary barriers which have been placed across the road, and as you slow to a stop you see why the signs were there. A bridge has been washed out by a flooded stream, and there is no way to continue driving without plunging into the raging torrent below.

At that point, you “repent”; you decide that driving forward doesn’t make sense anymore, and you turn around and head back the other way. Then you begin to wonder, “what if I had driven this road in the dark? What if I hadn’t seen the barrier in time to stop?”

Jesus said that we never know when we’re going to reach the end of our road here on earth, and that we need to repent in order to be ready for what’s after this life.

“Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish’” (Luke 13:1-5).

What do we need to repent of?

1: We need to realize that living our way (as opposed to God’s way) leads to eternal separation from Him in the Lake of Fire.

“But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur” (Revelation 21:8).

2: We need to agree with God that we are sinners who need to be forgiven.

“Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart” (Acts 8:22).

3: We need to remove our trust from any religion, work, or other person—and put our trust completely in Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose again.

“I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:21).

What’s next? When we turn from our way to God’s way and put our trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, our lives will reflect the change of direction.

“Repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds” (Acts 26:20).

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