Repentance is concrete. If there has been a sin, then we seek to change. If I have been making an idol out of money, I stop, and begin to delight in the Lord alone. If I have been putting impure things in front of my eyes, I stop, and pursue better things. If I have been getting enraged with my family, repentance means I stop, and I seek God’s grace for self-control. If I have been neglecting prayer, then I seek to begin again, and to create new habits. The examples can be multiplied. The point is that repentance means change.

One of the New Testament words for “repentance” means literally “a change of mind.” But this change of mind isn’t merely intellectual, as if repentance is a matter of accessing the right information.

It is deeply personal, a matter of our heart and life.

Repentance means we change our minds about ourselves, because we see our helplessness and how much we need grace. At the same time, repentance is changing our mind about God and seeing him as our one and only refuge. We come to grasp that it’s only because of the Lord’s great mercies that we are not consumed.

This was the point of John the Baptist’s question when he called his listeners to receive the baptism of repentance. His question was essentially this: What will they look like after they’d been baptized in the Jordan? They’d be dripping wet, of course. They might’ve gone on their way, smiling and relieved.

But if they have really believed in God and repented of sins, then their life will look different. It will be changed. Such was the force of John’s preaching in Luke 3:8,

Repentance is no abstract activity, but something you can see. As we draw on the sweet waters of God’s grace, fruits on our branches will grow.

First, true repentance changes our relationship with God. If you know yourself to be a chronic idolater and rebel, but now forgiven and cleansed, you will begin to love God, thank and worship him. Now you want to spend time with the Lord. You want to listen to him.