DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- WHAT SHALL WE DO?

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – WHAT SHALL WE DO?

"So the people asked him (John the Baptist), saying, 'What shall we do then?'….Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, 'Teacher, what shall we do?'….Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, 'And what shall we do?' " (Luke 3:10, 12, 14)

Luke recorded that John the Baptist "went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" (3:3). This preaching had a profound effect on the listeners. They were convicted of the way they were living and wanted to know what they should do. There was one common question: "What shall we do?" John gave them some specific instructions about the changed life that comes with repentance, and he baptized them as an outward testimony of their confession of sins.

This question was not fully answered until the Day of Pentecost when Peter preached his great sermon (Acts 2). "When they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' " (Acts 2:37). Peter gave the answer: "Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…." (Acts 2:38). This baptism was a demonstration of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Repentance means to turn around and go the other direction. True repentance will result in a changed life. Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery, "Go and sin no more" (John 8:11). The evidence of true repentance is a transformed life. If there is no change in the way I live, the way I think, and my world-view, then I could properly ask if I have truly repented.

The transformed life is vibrant testimony to the power of the grace of God at work in our lives. Not that we will become perfect immediately, but there will be a change in our desires. As a child, I used to listen to a preacher from Tennessee who had a radio program called "Changed Lives." The changed life wants to serve Jesus, to communicate with Him, and wants to know Him better.

Some of us were converted as children, and there was not the drastic change that an adult alcoholic or drug addict might experience. But we are changed. We are different. And that difference is a powerful evidence of God at work in our lives. Repentance and the work of the Holy Spirit transforms our lives.

Love, Dad