Pastor Travis Stamper

“Repentance grows as Faith grows. Do not make any mistake about it…Repentance is the inseparable companion of faith.”

– Charles Spurgeon

Today as we read through Luke 3, we got to encounter the young man, John the Baptist, as he began his ministry.

It says that John was living in the wilderness when the word of God came to him. In Isaiah it was prophesied that this very day would come. It was said that there would be a voice in the wilderness calling out to people to prepare the way for the Lord, and in a lot of ways that’s what this lent devotional is all about.

We want to make room for the Lord, we want to open our hearts to Him and make this season all about Him. So what does John teach? How do we make a way for the Lord in our own life? His answer was simple, we need to repent.

Repentance is a turning from sin and turning towards God. It’s more than just acknowledging something is wrong, because true repentance always takes place in our heart. Repentance implies we are going to change something. It doesn’t mean we have to do it on our own, God will help us to change. Repentance is how we turn from our sin to the God who can forgive and change us.

I think that part of repentance is understood fairly well by the church, but one thing we can overlook is that repentance isn’t something that lives in the past, or something that we only do one time, but rather it should be a vital part of our current walk with God.

Let’s look at Luke 3:8 together, here John says “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”

A few things stand out from this passage, first is this, the Christian life is supposed to produce “fruit.” What is this fruit? It’s lots of things, it produces the fruit of the Spirit in us of course, but it also means that God is able to work in and through us to produce the things He wants to see.

That fruit could be encouragement to others, sharing our faith, helping those in need, and making disciples just to name a few.

What John is saying here though isn’t just you need to go and bear this fruit, but rather that if you live a lifestyle of repentance the natural result will be a life that bears fruit.

Lent is a great season to reflect and examine ourselves. Here is a question I want you to consider and reflect on today: How real is God’s will in my life?

As you reflect on this question, I’d encourage you to spend time in prayer just talking with God about your answer, and asking Him to increase in your life this year!