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‘Then Peter said to them, “Repent…”’ Acts 2:38 NKJV

A sign on a church notice board read, ‘Try God Week.’ The idea was simple enough: if you try Him for a week and don’t like the results, you can go back to your old life again. Peter didn’t tell the crowd on the Day of Pentecost to try God for a week. He preached, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.’ (Acts 2:38–39 NKJV) A fish doesn’t try water; it needs water in order to survive. A plant doesn’t try soil; it needs soil in order to grow. Likewise, you don’t try God; you need God because there’s a void within you only He can fill. And He wants to do more than just come into your life; He wants to take over your life! ‘But I struggle with certain weaknesses,’ you say. The truth is we’re all born with certain proclivities; some are just more obvious than others. That’s why every one of us needs to be ‘born again’. (John 3:3 NIV) As Jesus explained to Nicodemus, although he had a natural birth he needed a spiritual birth to enter God’s Kingdom. Salvation and the guarantee of Heaven take place immediately; all you have to do is put your trust in Christ. But submitting to the lordship of Jesus is a project you’ll be working on from the new birth to the New Jerusalem.

SoulFood: 2 Chr 32–34, Lk 18:1–17, Ps 119:145–160, Prov 22:14–16

The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright 2024

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