The season of lent echoes with one call – a call to repentance. Why must we repent? Repentance is a preparation for a deeper experience of our Lord Jesus. Repentance makes way for a cleansing and clearance of our hearts, minds and conscience.

It is said that Noah built the ark and made his call to repentance for some 55 years to as many as 120 years before the flood started. The popular number of 120 years comes from Genesis 6:3 when God said that man’s days would be 120 years. He was 600 years old when he entered the ark together with his eight family members. The ark was about 450 feet long (135 meters) and 45 feet wide (22.5 meters). The height of the ark was 45 feet (13.5 meters) and it was divided into three levels and it took many years to build. The people watched Noah build his ark for years and accepted him as a sort of nutty prophet with his fancy ship. His call to repentance was not taken seriously and would have been the joke of the town.

Though the call to repentance was followed by a global flood it pained the heart of God and the father made a covenant to never again destroy the world and its creatures with flood waters. Before the flood there was no concept of rain. Later on rain became a normal occurrence and the rainbow was a reminder of the covenant God made to humankind.

The story of Noah is a foreshadow of the story of our Lord Jesus. Our Lord Jesus came to this world as a result of widespread sin and hatred. He built an ark of the word of God where people could find refuge from their inability to live as God wanted them to live. The flood and flow of our Lord Jesus’ blood cleansed us of sin and resulted in a covenant between God and people. A covenant of love came into being where through the merits of Christ Jesus’ passion we can find hope, refuge and eternal life.

Even our Lord was driven into the desert by the Spirit for forty days to prepare himself for His ministry to the world. Often we see repentance as a dirty, weak and boring word. But true repentance is the trigger that catapults us into a next level sort of relationship with God.

Repentance clears the way for us to hear God’s voice more clearly. It humbles us and opens us up to experience the hand of God more powerfully.

Many of us love to wear a certain t-shirt, top or pair of shorts as our home clothes. Over time, these clothes gather stains and spots and no matter what we do the clothes cannot be cleaned of their patches and spots… but we love those clothes all the same because we feel comfortable in them. And so it is with sin. Along time our heart and conscience becomes stained with sin and we find it difficult to get rid of that sin because that sin might have become a comfortable habit we love and enjoy and it takes a mighty effort to clean off that sin.

The Psalmist says in Psalm 25 -:Your ways, O Lord are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.” Repentance seems like a dirty boring word but the reality is that it wipes away clouds of doubts, fears, and darkness and allows light into our being. When we repent it becomes easier to experience the love of our Lord Jesus and the voice of God becomes clearer to us. God is moved to speak a covenant over our lives and we begin to walk in intimacy with our God.

When I look from my balcony and watch my neighbour wash his vehicle, I easily notice the spots he has missed and the patches that might have escaped his eyes. He may have the special fibre cloth, the bucket of detergent and the hose but he can still make mistakes and he may still miss out on cleaning certain key areas of the vehicle. The person from afar can see the entire vehicle body, the bright areas and the dull areas and the missed out spots. So it is with a time spent in repentance and contemplation. We may have all the knowledge but we have our blind spots. From afar, the spirit is able to point out our lacks and losses. When we accept them we are washed and made whole.

Our Lord Jesus came for this reason. In the body He was put to death due to our sin. In the Spirit He was raised to life. Repentance and fasting is putting the flesh to death that our spirit may be raised to life. Many of us are handsome, beautiful, glowing and bright but the reality can be that the body is alive but our spirits may be dead.

Our Lord Jesus tells us that the time has come; the kingdom of God is at hand. Change your ways and believe the Good News.

Prayer: Abba Father, thank you for the call to repentance which our Lord Jesus offers us. May we repent and then rejoice as His light breaks into our lives. Amen