Teshuvah (“repentance”) is often described as “turning” back to God, though practically speaking it is an ongoing turning, that is, a turning to God both in moments of ambiguity, pain, and distress, as well as in moments of respite and relative happiness… It is in the midst of the ego’s clamor, before the parade of worldly desire or pressure, in the crucible of “everydayness” that we must “come to ourselves” and find true wonder. In that sense, teshuvah is a sort of focus, a direction, a seeking, and a center of life, the place of constant repair for the inner breach we constantly feel. It’s a long road home to finally understand you belong at your Father’s table…
The question may be asked, however, whether you really want God – the Living God – to be intimately present in your life. “Repentance means unlearning all the self-conceit and self-will that we have been training ourselves into… It means killing part of yourself, undergoing a kind of death” (C.S. Lewis). Indeed, “nothing is more certain: coming close to God brings certain catastrophe [to the ego]. Everyone whose life does not bring relative catastrophe has never even once turned as a single individual to God; it is just as impossible as it is to touch the conductors of a generator without getting a shock” (Soren Kierkegaard). As the Scripture says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God” (Heb. 10:31).
It is written in the Mishnah (Avot:15b), “repent one day before you die,” but who knows the day of one’s death in advance? Therefore “seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him when he is near” (Isa. 55:6). “In eternity you will not be asked how large a fortune you are leaving behind – the survivors ask about that. Nor will you be asked about how many battles you won, about how sagacious you were, how powerful your influence – that, after all, becomes your reputation for posterity. No, eternity will not ask about what worldly goods remain behind you, but about what riches you have gathered in heaven. It will ask you about how often you have conquered your own thought, about what control you have exercised over yourself or whether you have been a slave, about how often you have mastered yourself in self-denial or whether you have never done so” (Kierkegaard).
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Isaiah 55:6 Hebrew Lesson Card (pdf)
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We may sometimes feel far from God’s Presence, lost in a place of exile, yet faith pushes through pain and doubt to find the LORD still near to us; faith hears the Spirit calling out in love: “Seek the LORD while he may be found, call out to him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the perverse man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly forgive” (Isa. 55:6-7).
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Isaiah 55:7 Hebrew Lesson Card (pdf)
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Take a moment to reflect upon these precious words from Scripture. The Lord is extending to you an personal invitation to seek Him and know his heart. Regardless of the troubles of your past, regardless of the mess you have made of your life, God’s promise is offered to you: “Let the wicked man (i.e., rasha: רָשָׁע) forsake his way, and the perverted man (i.e., ish aven: אִישׁ אָוֶן) his thoughts; and let him return (i.e., shuv: שׁוּב) to the LORD, that He may have mercy (i.e., rachamim: רַחֲמִים) on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly forgive.” God calls out for you to know and receive His compassion, His love, and His forgiveness…
The invitation of divine grace is offensive to various forms of worldly religion based on personal merit and the supposed ability of human beings to flatter blessings from Heaven… Nearly all “karma-based” religions of the world are scandalized and offended by God’s unconditional love for the unworthy and helpless sinner. For them, God’s love is conditional, based as it is on the observance of certain religious rituals, adhering to certain rules, and playing the approved “language game” (creeds, confessions, etc.). Legalism always attempts to find the “key” to open the door into the Presence of God through various forms of self effort (“don’t touch this,” “don’t eat that,” etc. Col. 2:20-23). It’s underlying hope is that if I do such and such (or refrain from such and so), I will be accepted. It is therefore a mode of relating to God based on His conditional acceptance. But faith in God’s love is the key that opens the door to freedom. Faith is the miracle that makes blind eyes see (John 9:38-39). When we truly “live in the Presence of the LORD” by faith, we are set free from the trap of legalism. We receive the love of God; we accept that we are accepted, and then we walk in God’s zealous care for our souls.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, all the trees of the field shall clap their hands” (Isa. 55:8-12).
The religious leaders of Yeshua’s day were offended because he “welcomed sinners” and enjoyed eating meals with them (Luke 15:2). From the perspective of the “holier-than-thou,” befriending a sinner was downright scandalous. Such is the hidden sickness lurking within man’s theological caste systems, since they often appeal more for their own need to be regarded as “clean” than for the need of others to be touched and shown genuine love…