Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.
In today’s verse we are not being told to forgive others the way we were in the first two. Though the verse does not say the word forgive in it, understand that is exactly what we are talking about. Today’s verse is teaching us how we can seek forgiveness for ourselves.
Sin is anything that separates us from God. It is impossible for us to live a sin free life. We ALL sin and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). And because we are sinners we all deserve punishment. But God loves us and provided a way for us to be redeemed, a way for our relationship with Him to be restored – Jesus. Jesus died on the cross to save us from eternal separation from God.
We do this through repentance. To repent means to change one’s mind and to reverse direction away from God back to Him. We acknowledge that our actions are sinful and wrong and we choose to change. We choose His way over our own. We turn TO God.
When we repent and turn to God, we see our sins wiped out. They are purged, made clean, removed. We are restored in our relationship with God. It doesn’t mean we won’t sin again or need to repent and turn back once more – we WILL sin and find ourselves distanced from Him more than once. We need to continue to monitor our actions and lives and repent again and again if we want fellowship with God to be restored.
And when we do we will experience times of refreshing that come from Him. What does that mean? It refers to a spiritual renewal, of times when we are filled with joy and peace, both of which are gifts of grace given by God. But it can also refer to the future when we will be fully, completely restored and renewed – when Jesus returns and ushers in a period of righteousness.
Regardless of when the periods of refreshing come, understand that we need restoration and forgiveness. Thus we need to repent and turn to God. Stop where you are and consider your life. What do you need to repent of? Take a few moments now to give it to God and choose to turn away from sin and back to Him.
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