Repent

Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. 5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction. (Malachi 4:4-6)

Before World War II started in the Pacific, there was all kinds of chatter that forebode something was coming. The US, at that time a strict isolationist county, separate from the rest of the world by two great oceans, relied on diplomacy as a way to avoid war.

Then came the attack on Pearl Harbor, specifically our American boys in the Pacific on our great battleship fleet, and overnight, attitudes changed as America found itself attacked unlike any time before. There were signals, we learned as we study history, but we didn't listen as we ought, hoping our strength in our fleet and our words in our diplomacy would suffice.

Throughout time since the Fall of Man, we learn God talks to us. He spoke directly through the prophets, and eventually through his Son, yet words don't seem to carry much weight when it comes to man. The final three verses in the Old Testament (Malachi 4:1-6), speak of someone who will come who will be like Elijah, who will call for repentance and turn our hearts (repent). The man who draws this assignment is John the Baptist, who prepares the way for Christ.

As we draw close to Advent, which points us to the Second Coming of Christ (from the initial incarnation of Christ to his return), we read passages that sound dark and foreboding. The time is near, we read, for Israel (us) to heed the words of the prophets I (God) send, to return to God (repent), for that time draws near.

Pray with me: Gracious God, Forgive me when I go astray. Help me to keep my heart and mind on you, Merciful Father, and to keep my heart and mind on Christ Jesus, your Son, our Lord. Help me to heed your Word, in Christ and in scripture, as I go throughout my day. In Christ's name, Amen.