Repentance: The Point of Contact
For all of our humanness and points of inspiration and desire for "unity" and "oneness", our hope has been in the cross of Jesus Christ and Our Father and as well it should be. HE is the ONE salvation and the ONE sure Word. He died for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD; and the reality that through Him, NOTHING WAS MADE THAT HAS BEEN MADE and the confession that, IN HIM WAS LIFE and THAT LIFE was the LIGHT OF Mankind points to the ONE we as mankind can have contact with. However what is mankind's point of contact? What is our point of commonality, since our sins differ in depth, in amount, in the white or black lies, in our need for healing and wholeness or our imagination of being "good enough", yet always reading self help books and become "better"? We try to find common ground on which to build, to talk, to live and have relationship with one another but what is the "common ground"? Every man or woman does not necessarily need physical or emotional healing, nor does every man or woman want that. They/we may not even desire more than what we have right now or we may be "satisfied"/"content" or happy with our life, but even there we need each other. So what would be our point of contact for relationship in those places, our place of commonality? Some of us may be spiritually more mature, but there is still a place we do not loose connection unless we imagine ourselves as "better" or others as not yet having reached "MY" place of spirituality, and then how can one reach the other and there be a point of contact?
Even at the teacher/student role or the mentor/mentee role there must be a place of contact...of commonality. Humility is one of the greatest teachers and one of the greatest equalizers in our relationships with each other and even with God. Sometimes as teachers, mentors or role models we become obsessed with teaching, mentoring or modeling and lose that point of contact. Though we have become more mature we have forgotten Pauls admonition in his writings..."and such were some of you". We may even look at ourselves as Job did before his "eye has seen" God. Job was altogether righteous. God said that! Yet in all Job's righteousness he failed to look upon the contact he served. He had "heard" of him but after he reached the point of contact he looked upon Him. The Bible even says that even if Noah, Job or Daniel were alive during a certain time, their righteousness could save only themselves. To look at these things, we have to look at their lives. There is one thing they all had in common and at which a point of contact could be established. That one point, the point of oneness, of unity or commonality is they all experienced a point of contact with God at repentance and through that heart of humility and desire for more of God, God Himself coupled them together, even though they were from different time periods. Repentance is the point of contact, of commonality if you will. We seek to unify a world, a body of believers in Jesus Christ with so many things and teachings...looking for "destiny" when it could be summed up in...love is the answer, but repentance is the call.
Repentance is the place of contact between the believer and unbeliever because "and such were some of you". It is also the point of testimony to where the believer can not tell other believers and non-believers that before my ears had heard of Him, but NOW my eye has seen Him. Noah was "more righteous", Job was "altogether righteous" and Daniel was the one man chosen by God to keep not only his people safe to the best of his ability but the one who is seen praying in repentance for his own sins and the sins of his fathers and countrymen. It is the place where we can say to one another, "yea, I remember I use to think that way or do that or live like that, But God" and we rejoice together as well prophesy. It is not however a place we can form a wall around or even a ministry really because repentance belongs in every ministry and cannot be exclusive, unless it is only to those who are willing. The benefit is to the willing but not to the unwilling, but the call is to "whosoever will" which again leads us to the point of contact and/or commonality. Repentance is the ONE place that leads us to Christ and Christ is the ONE place that leads us to repentance which leads US to become ONE Body....the body of Christ, with Him as the head. No "offices" are the head of Christ, they are parts of the body. Perhaps with all our "worship" which, if it brings us closer to God is also a point of repentance (come closer), or with all our "teaching" (nourishment), and with all our "prayer" (be reset, retreat to safety) the single most common and one thing we need to do as a body is to reconnect with the head through repentance and come into the place of "oneness" we seek and proclaim we can have. Repentance however is more than a teaching. It leads us to connect, to discover, to examine (ourselves), to turn aside from irresponsibility and to look into the face of the One who makes us undone and makes us (or should) tremble. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of "In the beginning". Fear the Lord again and repent. More than anything, it is when men/nations repented that God responded with mercy, grace and restoration. It is the point of contact, not only between and with men, but with God.
Hosea 6:1-3 says, "Come, let us return to Adonai; for he has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck, and he will bind our wounds. After two days, he will revive us; on the third day, he will raise us up; and we will live in his presence. Let us know, let us strive to know Adonai. That he will come is as certain as morning; he will come to us like the rain, like the spring rains that water the earth." (CJB) THIS is our place of contact with each other and with Our Father. THIS is not a teaching that some get and some don't. You cannot frame walls around this because God will answer the one(s) who respond with repentance rather than teachings or promises or boldness. Repentance is the place of commonality, even in those places. Now, think on and ask Holy Spirit to reveal what repentance is in your life. If you say..."I don't know of anything I've done wrong", then you have completely missed the point...of contact. You have become like Job. SEE......HIM! GAZE.......upon HIM. and repent.
