i think we've really misunderstood repentance. we talk about it being a 180-degree turn or a change in thinking that results in a change of action. i myself prefer to think of repentance in terms of story -- i recognize that all the stories of this world are false, and that God's story is the only true story. i then turn my back on every story i've been living, and i participate exclusively in the story of God.

really, any of these definitions is pretty fair, but we're leaving out a crucial ingredient -- the crucial ingredient. where do we place the power of God and the work of the Holy Spirit in our definitions of repentance? we hold on tight to our own stories of repentance, because this allows us to salvage a portion of our pride. "if i can't contribute at all to my salvation, then surely i can at least be the one who puts myself in the position in which i'm 'saveable.'" we like to look back on our lives and talk about how we had the intelligence to figure out the path we were heading down was a poor one; and so we finally came to our senses and turned our lives around.

in luke 15, the lost son "came to his senses." that's even how the niv renders it. and once in his senses he devised a plan to make himself right. he would go to his father and ask to be a hired worker. i understand that he recognized the poor life he was living -- but he was not truly responsible for the change in his life. when HE came to HIS senses, HE devised HIS OWN plan to make HIMSELF right. he attempted to do all this on his own. the lost son was not truly found, i believe, until his father embraced him. it was then that the change in his life truly came about; his father received him as a son.

God's power must be present in repentance. i cannot bring about the change in my life that occurs in salvation. i can no more change my life by decision and discipline than i can provide my own sacrifice for sins. i pray that the Holy Spirit continues to transform me, changing me, making me into the man he desires for me to be. and my prayer is the same for you. may he bless us both with truly changed lives.