Many times in the Old Testament we read of people repenting in sackcloth and ashes, of how they rent their clothes, literally tearing them apart to show how distressed they were at what had happened. Why do it? Granted, in emotional distress, it would be natural to want to take some sort of violent action, but why tear your clothes? The answer is that it was to show in an outward way what they were doing on the inside---they were tearing away and destroying the things that they had used to cover themselves and to preserve their dignity. They were showing that they were removing any remains of pretense between themselves and God.

And yet, as with all outward things, this was something that was easily done when the heart was not truly repentant. When it was a custom like this, it was used when they were in emotional distress, and the idea of true repentance was lost, or clouded. In this passage, the Lord is calling them to forget about rending their garments; that would not do them any good. Rather, they are to "rend your heart."

Today, we don't try to show sorrow by literally tearing our clothes apart, and yet a similar thing can happen in too many cases. When we have done something wrong, and are shown it, we can try to show repentance in many ways---we can feel emotional distress, and then try to say, "I repented, because I felt badly about it." Feelings, and sometimes actions, are simply the outward show that we put on, sometimes for the benefit of others, and sometimes for our own benefit as well.

What is the heart? It is the center of our body, a vital organ if we are to live. It is used to represent the one single foundational place where everything else rests, the one place that determines not just what we do, but who we are. True repentance consists of changing the heart, not by emotional distress, but by the cleansing power of God. True repentance consists of "rending" open our hearts to let God change not just the sin, but the part of us that was involved in it, to do more than simply forgive the action, but to change the desires that led to it. True repentance is a "turning away" from the things in our lives that led to the problem, or the sin.

So the next time we're convicted by the Spirit of God, let's not try to drown ourselves in grief. Let's not try to make ourself feel better by saying, "I'll do this and this to make up for it." Rather, let's turn to God, rend that part of ourself that is our very identity, and tell God, "Please, Lord, heal us. Make us in Your image." From that point, we can truly build a way to make recompense to those we might have hurt, and can truly turn away from the wrong.

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Romans 12:2.

May we all seek the renewing, transforming, power of God in our hearts and lives. [ The End ]