Repent and Believe the Good News | Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Image :downeyubf.com

Mark 1: ¹⁴ After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.¹⁵ “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

And so we see Jesus for the first time in Mark’s Gospel. And the first thing Jesus says in this first appearance is “repent.”

He tells people that it is now the right time to live as citizens in the Kingdom of God, as subjects of the King, their lives surrendered to him.

What they have to do is to repent, to stop doing the wrong they were doing, and to believe in what Jesus taught.

All very well. It’s when the wrong thing is so profitable, or convenient or comfortable or easy or tempting, that repentance is hard.

And of what should we repent? I sometimes imagine the waterfall of God’s spirit, and power flow through me. What impediment might it find? Of that, I need to repent.

* * *

Time to pause and reflect.

Because a little bit of sin and wrong-doing is like mould. It will spread and spread, and overwhelm one’s immune system, and cause seriously respiratory illnesses, and even death.

Better clear the mold out of one’s life immediately!

Hebrews 12¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.

* * *

And the second imperative is like the first. Believe the good news.

And what is so good about the news Jesus told us?

That we are told that God cares for the birds of the air, that not a sparrow falls to the ground without his eye being on it.

That just as he puts it into our hearts to care for them, to put out fat and nuts and seeds for them, he himself cares for them.

And even more for us

And we are not just urged but commanded not to worry.

That prayer to our Father works.

That we are to forgive those who sin against us, and not carry the backpack of hatred and longing to revenge. That we can hand that backpack to God to deal with as he pleases.

That, incredibly, unbelievably, we are forgiven, because Jesus paid the penalty for our sins on the cross.

It’s all good news, isn’t it? And, luckily, we are commanded to believe it.