For ninety-nine people to have no need to repent is a great miracle and therefore a cause of great joy. However, one person repenting is an even greater cause for joy because:
1) Without our repentance the shedding of Jesus' blood on Calvary is in vain for us.
2) Repentance is often a mega-change, a 180-degree turn, reappraising "all as loss in the light of the surpassing knowledge of [our] Lord Jesus Christ" (Phil 3:8), stripping "off the carnal body completely" (Col 2:11).
3) Repentance is a grace. Sin blinds us to sin, which further blinds us to sin, etc. By this spiritual blindness and self-deception, we build up layers of sin (see 1 Jn 1:6). Except for God's miraculous intervention by His grace, there would be no way out of sin (see 1 Pt 2:9).
4) Repentance is catalytic and contagious. As one sin has unimaginable effects, so one act of repentance has even greater effects (see Rm 5:20). For example, 120,000 Ninevites repented in one day (Jon 4:11).
Repentance is an absolutely necessary, miraculous, catalytic mega-change from death to life, rebellion to submission, and darkness to light. Because of this, one sinner repenting is a greater cause for joy than even other exceptionally great causes for joy. Repent, rejoice, and cause heaven to rejoice.
| PRAYER: | Father, give me the sorrow for sin which turns into the joy of repentance (2 Cor 7:10). |
| PROMISE: | "He invites friends and neighbors in and says to them, 'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.' " –Lk 15:6 |
| PRAISE: | Alice, a lay evangelist, befriends prostitutes on street-corners and lovingly shares the Good News with them. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College