“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near.
Repent and believe the good news!”
— Jesus :: Mark 1:15

I really love todays thought because for me it puts flesh on this idea of repentance and what John the Baptist was asking of folks. Simply put, “change your mind!”

If you or I were to exit our bodies and look down on how we celebrate Christmas, how our culture celebrates Christmas we would probably confess that something needs to change. Maybe you could change an action or even give some extra things away to make your Advent & Christmas look more Christian. But that is really just scratching the surface. What we really need to do is get to the heart of the matter, which is changing our mind about what is important to us this time of year. True repentance, which is about the mind and the heart, is the journey we really need to take. It’s the journey that John the Baptist is inviting us all on this Advent. 

With this definition of Repentance in mind and with these thoughts in mind i wanted to share a few more scriptures that will draw you into repentance for this Advent journey. 

Mark 1:4
4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Acts 2:14-42
(38) Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

Acts 3:19-20
19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.

Romans 2:4
4 Do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

2 Corinthians 7:8-12
8 Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— 9 yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. 10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 11 See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. 12 So even though I wrote to you, it was neither on account of the one who did the wrong nor on account of the injured party, but rather that before God you could see for yourselves how devoted to us you are. 13 By all this we are encouraged.

2 Peter 3:8-9
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

There are a bunch more scripture that flesh out this idea of repentance, especially in the gospel of Luke, so check those out.
Meditate on His word and let His Word continue to lead you into repentance this Advent! 

Grace and peace