Dear Redeeming Grace,

We hope this week has found you savoring grace and finding it sweeter than usual. We thought last weekend of how bitter and serious our sin really is and how we need God's help to see it in light of the cross that we might have an appropriate sorrow. But thank God that sorrow isn't the end of the road.

An appropriate sorrow will lead us to repentance, which is a real gift from the Lord to us. To repent is simply to turn away from something and towards another. It's like a 180 that spins you in the opposite direction away from sin and towards the Lord. And what awaits you as you walk with the Lord is grace, joy, peace and every other spiritual blessing you can imagine.

In Acts 3, a crowd gathers right after a man they know is healed in Jesus name. They are listening intently as Peter's words remind them of their role in sending Jesus to the cross. But then he issues this invitation to them: "Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord..." (Acts 3:19-20a ESV)

Times of refreshing in the Lord's presence are what await the repentant heart. What an amazing gift of God's grace to us. That's reason to not wait, but run to the cross when the Spirit helps us see our sin.

Let's be a people who practice repentance, experiencing times of refreshing and enjoying the grace of God in Christ.