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Aug 24, 2024 06:00am

Turn Back

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Remember these things, O Jacob,
and Israel, for you are my servant;
I formed you; you are my servant;
O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.
I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud
and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you. (Isaiah 44:21–22)

Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus . . . (Acts 3:19–20)

Sometimes our life choices take us down the road of sin. In fact, the path of sin we’ve traveled may be so long, winding, and treacherous that it feels like there is no hope of ever hiking our way out. And yet, the Lord calls us to turn back to Him.

The Lord wants us to return to him because we are His.

“You are not your own, for you were bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19b–20).

If our dog runs away, we want it to come home. We put our name and number on our luggage tag because we want our suitcase returned to us if something happens to it. If an item is missing from our grocery order, we want the employee to give us our food. Why? Because it belongs to us; we paid for it. It’s ours, and we have the right to possess it. These comparisons are not used to cheapen Christ’s sacrifice but simply because they are things we can understand.

We need to return to God because He has redeemed us; Christ paid for us with His blood when He died on the cross for our sins. We belong to Him. We have no right to go our own way when He has told us the way we ought to live. We are not our own.

The Lord wants us to return to Him because He has blotted out our transgressions and because He will still blot out our transgressions.

“I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you” (Isaiah 44:22); “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19).

God has already blotted out our sins through Jesus’ death on the cross. He says they are blotted out like a cloud or a mist—something that is here for a moment and then evaporates so quickly that it’s not even remembered. He will not hold our sins against us. In fact, we can be confident of this because He says, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more” (Hebrews 10:17).

This means we know we can come to Him without hiding, without shame, without trying to cover our nakedness with “fig leaves,” but with full confidence that when we return, He will receive us like the prodigal son’s father—with a robe, a signet ring, and a celebration. He will receive us because we have been bought, we have been cleansed, and we have been covered with Christ’s blood.

We should also return to Him so that we can receive forgiveness in this moment, knowing our sin has already been paid for and that Scripture says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

The Lord wants us to return to Him so that we will receive times of refreshing from His presence.

The book of James says, “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God” (James 4:6–7).

When you turn back to God, there is a humbling of yourself as you must admit you were wrong, acknowledge that God’s ways are right, and then submit yourself to Him by living according to His righteous ways.

When we draw near to God, we will experience the blessing of His presence—His favor, His smiling countenance—and be refreshed by it. But we must come in repentance by cleansing our hands and purifying our hearts if we want to enjoy this refreshing.

God will never forget us—much like we won’t forget about the thing which belongs to us that we want back. He “will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground” (Isaiah 44:3a). But we must come to Him with a humble heart, a broken and contrite spirit.

The Lord wants us to repent so that Jesus will return.

“Repent therefore, and turn back . . . that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago” (Acts 3:19a, 20b–21).

If you have never repented of your sins and turned to God, He is waiting for you. God doesn’t tarry Christ’s return because He is slow or there’s an accidental delay in the plan. He is waiting so that all who will believe in Him may come to repentance and faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Likewise, Christ said He would not return until the gospel had been preached to every nation (Mark 13:10; Matthew 24:14).

But do not delay. Today is the day of repentance. “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:30–31). We do not know when Jesus will return, but we know that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed” (2 Peter 3:10).

When Christ comes back, He will not come to pay for sins (for He has already done the work required for salvation), but He will come to judge. He will expose all our deeds as we stand before His throne, and anyone who has not repented and placed their faith in Christ—whose name is not written in the Book of Life—will be thrown into the lake of fire, which is the second death, or hell (Revelation 20:12–15).

So turn back to the Lord while there is still time. Turn back to the Lord so you may receive mercy and grace and have your sins blotted out. Turn back to Him and experience refreshment for your soul. Turn back to Him because you are His and He loves you.