The Joy of Repentance

1 Samuel 15:22 22 But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

This verse came to my mind last night during Bible study, and I think as we study repentance it is important. I think this is pretty easy to understand. God delights more in our obedience than he does in our sacrifice/repentance. However, something happens when we don't live up to that standard. It is almost like we would rather fake the obedience thing and not repent for our sin. Yes, obedience is better than sin, but sin with repentance is much better than sin with fake obedience! There is a bitter sweet joy that comes with repentance. But lets think about why repentance is bitter and hard to do, and also why it is sweet and an amazing thing to do. It is bitter and hard to do only for our flesh. It is painful for our pride and our ego. It is sweet and joyful, because our spirit comes alive again in the area where it was cut off from God. God immediately comes and breaths life over us where sin had separated us from God. Repentance is the first righteous thing that we can do in response to our sin. Certainly God would rather we not sin and not have to repent, but should we fall short his delight is in our repentance. It is the enemies plan not only cause us to sin, but to put such shame and condemnation on us that we don't feel like we can go to God and get this straightened out. The enemy knows that causing sin is only half of the battle after what Jesus has done for us. After sin he continues to bring an unhealthy guilt, with bombardments of accusations. He tears us down to the point where we do not feel worthy to go to God, or we are scared of God. I really feel that this lie needs to be exposed. We can always go to God. His response to our sin when we approach him in humble repentance is always to love - heal - and restore. So there is joy in repentance, and we should be quick and eager to repent should we fall short in our obedience to him. Have a great day!