Repentance "SAY YOU'RE SORRY!"
Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance. 2 Cor. 7:9.
When I was in third grade, we were playing outside at recess time. When we came in, hot and dusty, to clean up in the boy's washroom, we forgot to do it quietly. Suddenly the teacher from the room next to us burst into the washroom and said, "What's the matter with you? You sound like a bunch of wild Indians!"
Well, in the first place, I didn't think she had any business coming into our washroom. And in the second place, I didn't like what she said. So I replied sassily. She thought I was acting a little big for my britches and told my teacher about it. My teacher told me to tell her I was sorry.
But I wasn't sorry. So I didn't go and apologize. The next day when I arrived at school, my teacher stopped me and said, "Did you tell her you were worry?" I was in a tight place. I said, "Yes, I did." But she had the goods on me. She had already checked with the other teacher. She replied, "I was just talking to Miss Brown, and she said you didn't."
Now I was in bigger trouble. So I said, "But I did! She must not have heard me." My teacher dropped the matter.
We finished the school year, and my family moved to another town. But every time I opened my Bible I'd remember the lie I had told my teacher. To convict of sin is the Spirit's work, and He does a pretty good job of it, doesn't He? Finally, I sat down and wrote a note to my teacher, confessing the lie I had told. But I still wasn't sorry about Miss. Brown!
I told this story at a camp meeting, and after the meeting there was a lady waiting to see me. It was Miss. Brown! More than thirty years had gone by. I still wasn't sorry! We talked for a little while, and when I got home, there was a letter from Miss. Brown. She was sorry! But when she was sorry, then I was sorry! I've thought about it many times since. Why wasn't I sorry earlier? Well, I didn't know her very well. About the only contact I ever had with her was that day in the washroom. If our only contact with God is a casual, once-in-a-while kind of meeting, we will never come to the place of being sorry when we hurt Him. It's when we see His love and know He is our friend that we are led to genuine repentance.
Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance. 2 Cor. 7:9.
When I was in third grade, we were playing outside at recess time. When we came in, hot and dusty, to clean up in the boy's washroom, we forgot to do it quietly. Suddenly the teacher from the room next to us burst into the washroom and said, "What's the matter with you? You sound like a bunch of wild Indians!"
Well, in the first place, I didn't think she had any business coming into our washroom. And in the second place, I didn't like what she said. So I replied sassily. She thought I was acting a little big for my britches and told my teacher about it. My teacher told me to tell her I was sorry.
But I wasn't sorry. So I didn't go and apologize. The next day when I arrived at school, my teacher stopped me and said, "Did you tell her you were worry?" I was in a tight place. I said, "Yes, I did." But she had the goods on me. She had already checked with the other teacher. She replied, "I was just talking to Miss Brown, and she said you didn't."
Now I was in bigger trouble. So I said, "But I did! She must not have heard me." My teacher dropped the matter.
We finished the school year, and my family moved to another town. But every time I opened my Bible I'd remember the lie I had told my teacher. To convict of sin is the Spirit's work, and He does a pretty good job of it, doesn't He? Finally, I sat down and wrote a note to my teacher, confessing the lie I had told. But I still wasn't sorry about Miss. Brown!
I told this story at a camp meeting, and after the meeting there was a lady waiting to see me. It was Miss. Brown! More than thirty years had gone by. I still wasn't sorry! We talked for a little while, and when I got home, there was a letter from Miss. Brown. She was sorry! But when she was sorry, then I was sorry! I've thought about it many times since. Why wasn't I sorry earlier? Well, I didn't know her very well. About the only contact I ever had with her was that day in the washroom. If our only contact with God is a casual, once-in-a-while kind of meeting, we will never come to the place of being sorry when we hurt Him. It's when we see His love and know He is our friend that we are led to genuine repentance.
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