WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.720 We're continuing in this in the story of Jonah. 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:14.320 This is uh, as I'm reading it over and over and over, what I'm realizing is this is a fascinating story about God's persistent grace. 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:19.039 You know, excuse me, I think we'll see that this morning. 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:20.719 So we all know the story. 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:25.920 Um, God wants Jonah to go to Nineveh basically to give them some bad news. 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:32.880 The bad news being you're you're going to be destroyed, um, as you heard a minute ago. 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:42.799 And Jonah didn't want to do it, and he didn't want to do it for very good reason because the Ninevites were they were nasty people. 00:00:43.039 --> 00:00:59.200 And it's kind of hard to relate, but there was a lot of history there, and the best I think we can do is maybe they're like our modern-day terrorists, just not people we want to associate with, and it's people we would really prefer just not be at all be at all. 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:00.240 We want them to go away. 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:07.519 In fact, Jonah was probably a little bit more he just wants them to die. 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:11.519 And and I think sometimes we tend to think that way about other people. 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:12.799 So, what does Jonah do? 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:14.560 Jonah runs from God. 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:19.760 And um God wants Jonah to go to Nineveh. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:29.599 Jonah doesn't want to go, Jonah runs, but Jonah can't hide, and and and God pursues Jonah, and he's thrown into the deep. 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:36.799 Um he winds up in the belly of a big fish, and and then he's there for three days. 00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:40.480 We'll talk about that briefly this morning again, revisit that. 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:45.439 But then the fish spits Jonah back out. 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:48.159 And uh Russ started that story last week. 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:50.480 We're going to continue that today. 00:01:51.040 --> 00:01:53.760 So I'm driving to Buckhead several times a week. 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:58.640 It's uh it's commuting uh for me, and it's I started doing it in 2014. 00:01:58.799 --> 00:02:01.920 I don't like it because there's a lot of traffic. 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:13.360 Um but I'm finding that I'm using my car horn a lot more than I used to, and I won't I'll go ahead and confess it's not always for emergencies or to avoid accidents. 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:18.479 I'm actually, I think I'm using my car horn to let other people know about how I'm feeling. 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:20.800 And so we kind of know what that's like. 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:24.400 It's like one short tap, it's like friendly, hey, how you doing? 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:24.879 I'm here. 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:27.360 Nice to see you, but could you move over? 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:33.039 Two short taps, it's like I'm friendly, but I really want you to move over. 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:41.360 But then there's that that long, that long blow, that one long blow, it's like I told you to get out of my spot. 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:42.879 Will you move over? 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:44.479 Not so friendly anymore. 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:47.039 And then there are the two long blows. 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:52.719 This is my spot, and I'm beginning to feel some hostility and anger here. 00:02:53.439 --> 00:03:00.080 And then there's the one long, sustained blow where everybody's uncomfortable. 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:10.639 I want everybody to be uncomfortable because I want you to know that I've just been, somebody's just pulled into me and taken my spot, and I'm not happy. 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:13.520 You've crossed the line, and I want justice. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:24.159 And it's often that one of those long blows, or the really long blow, that I'm gonna get a signal from the other driver just to let me know that my message has been received. 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:36.400 So I know that communicating with my horn is not being kind to others, and I know that some of the people that I communicate with would even say I'm being a jerk. 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:40.879 So it's like I'm recognizing a flaw in myself. 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:44.560 And this is a little bit of what we see in Jonah. 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:48.639 Um the Bible caused this repentance. 00:03:48.960 --> 00:03:55.199 In chapter, a little bit of chapter two, pretty much all of chapter three is about repentance. 00:03:55.680 --> 00:04:02.000 Um part of repentance is confession, and that's what we do here on Sunday mornings every week. 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:06.800 We uh we have we have a time of confession, and that's important. 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:15.919 It's important for us to have a time of confession where we can admit that we have flaws, and it's okay to have flaws, but we need to be honest about that. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:18.720 We need to be honest with ourselves, honest with God. 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:23.680 Um repentance, I think, is a little bit more of a difficult concept. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:27.439 Um, maybe it's a word that's a little bit uncomfortable. 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:30.959 Uh, certainly it's misunderstood, and I think it's probably misused. 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:34.319 So, what do I think of when I think of repentance? 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:39.759 I'm I'm back in Sunday school as a little kid, and that was a long time ago. 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:41.040 Some of you will remember this. 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:46.959 So I'm sitting in the Sunday school class, and the Sunday school teacher is uh like Mrs. 00:04:47.120 --> 00:05:01.680 Brown, and she's sitting there, she's got a bun on her head, and she's telling us what we need to know, and she's telling us what we need to do, and she tells us that repentance, and this is true, repentance is turning away from my sin and turning towards God. 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:03.040 That's true. 00:05:03.439 --> 00:05:12.879 But that I just I don't get it because it feels like you're telling me I'm a bad person, okay, and I need to do better. 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:19.120 And and honestly, on the do betters, that's not worked out so well for me over the years. 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:29.600 So in in chapter two and three, we're gonna see two examples of repentance that I think are really helpful for me. 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:34.160 We're gonna see one in Jonah, but we're gonna see another one in the Ninevites. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:48.800 Um, and in both cases, and this is key, repentance was a response to God's relentless pursuit, both of Jonah, which is a little bit easier to see, but also in the Ninevites. 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:55.600 Um we're actually gonna see God's relentless pursuit, hopefully, of us. 00:05:56.480 --> 00:05:58.879 So God is pursuing us. 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:04.319 Um God pursued Jonah because he wanted him to do something, but God is pursuing us. 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:06.879 I want us to talk about why. 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:09.120 Is it just so we'll behave? 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:13.600 Um Tim Keller puts it like this, and I really like this. 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:19.920 In religion, the purpose of repentance is basically to keep God happy. 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:24.879 So we will continue to so he will continue to bless you and answer your prayers. 00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:32.319 In religion, the purpose of repentance is basically to keep God happy, so he will continue to bless you and answer your prayers. 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:34.800 And that was what I heard from Mrs. 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:35.360 Brown. 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:39.839 I just need to do better so that God will be happy with me. 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:48.000 But in the gospel, the purpose of repentance is to repeatedly tap into the joy of our union with Christ. 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:49.839 And hear that again. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:58.000 In the gospel, the purpose of repentance is to repeatedly tap into the joy of our union with Christ. 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:16.160 That sounds altogether different, and it's starting to sound like okay, maybe the gospel is something different, maybe it's something unique, maybe it's more about relationship than it is about just transactional behavior. 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:21.360 So Martin Luther said it this way, and I I like this, it's succinct. 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:24.000 All of life is repentance. 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:35.040 Now, on the surface, that can be a little scary because repentance doesn't always feel good to us, but we want to dig into that a little bit more. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:50.720 So, a simple way that I like to think about repentance, and this is something kind of new to me, um, new, and that I've just begun to understand repentance a little bit more deeply and thoroughly. 00:07:50.879 --> 00:07:55.920 Um Repentance is our active learning to trust Jesus. 00:07:56.639 --> 00:08:00.879 Repentance is our active learning to trust Jesus. 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:04.879 Um, it's more of a way of life. 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:12.000 Um why so the question comes to my mind: why would I want to actively trust Jesus? 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:14.399 And this is just pure logic. 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:17.920 I think there are two reasons, two good reasons. 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:23.759 One is what Russ said a few minutes ago, God loves us far more than we can ever imagine. 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:27.680 That that one is particularly difficult for me to understand. 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:33.840 Um, I grew up understanding that God loves the world. 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:40.639 But it's altogether different for me to realize that God loves me and God loves you. 00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:43.039 Yes, he loves the world, but he loves you. 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:47.600 That's a hard, hard thing to get my head around. 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:54.320 Um, in fact, I've heard people say that I know it's true, God loves you more than you love yourself. 00:08:55.360 --> 00:09:00.960 Um but it's it's it's also recognizing that God is powerful. 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:04.320 Um He, in fact, is all powerful. 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:08.480 That means He can do anything He wants anytime He wants. 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:11.279 So, two things, think about this. 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:24.080 If both of those things are true, if God loves you perfectly, and if He's all-powerful, why would you not want to trust Him completely? 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:30.799 He wants the best for you and He will make the very best happen for you. 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:44.799 So let's see how that works in Jonah's life and in the Ninevites' life. 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:50.320 So Jonah, when he was in the belly of the fish, came face to face with his own mortality. 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:53.759 It's like, think about this, he's in this fish. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:56.480 Don't probably doesn't know how he got there. 00:09:56.559 --> 00:09:58.080 He just was going over the side of the boat. 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:03.200 Next thing he knows, he's in this fish, and he doesn't know how long he's gonna be there. 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:06.159 He was there just three days, but he didn't know that. 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:10.559 And he's realizing he's probably going to die. 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:14.399 So he he reaches out to God and God answers. 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:23.360 Um, it's it's like Jonah coming face to face with his own mortality, and that's happened with some of you, that's happened to me. 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:32.960 Um and it's like um God is the only thing there is because there's nothing else that can save him. 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:37.360 There's there's not another person in the belly of the fish, there's not a doctor there. 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:38.399 This is it. 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:42.320 And so God's gonna do something, or Jonah's not gonna make it. 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:46.240 Um and then it happened that he faced God, he faced himself. 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:50.000 And it's uh I think it's a very simple decision at this point. 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:53.759 Maybe not one we want to make, but I think it's a simple decision. 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:55.679 Am I going to trust God? 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:58.399 Or am I going to trust myself? 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:03.840 And it's the same question as asking, am I gonna be in control, or is God in control? 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:05.440 Is God going to be in control? 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:09.679 Well, it's clear at this point that Jonah's not gonna be in control. 00:11:09.759 --> 00:11:10.960 He's he's just not. 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:16.639 So Jonah knew why he was in the belly of the fish. 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:24.879 He he recognized his flaw, he knew that he was running from God, and um God's simply not going to let him go. 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:33.759 Um in Jonah 2.8, he says, those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. 00:11:34.159 --> 00:11:37.679 But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:40.000 What I have vowed, I will pay. 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:42.399 Salvation belongs to the Lord. 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:47.840 And essentially he's saying, I recognize I was wrong, now I'm ready to obey. 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:49.679 And this is confession. 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:56.159 Um that's basically the the first step of repentance, is confession. 00:11:56.240 --> 00:12:03.759 And we see it also in the in the Ninevites in chapter 3, verse 5, after Jonah has preached his message. 00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:07.519 In verse 5, the people of Nineveh believed God. 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:13.919 They called forth fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:23.679 The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:26.639 So, what is sackcloth? 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:31.039 And I'm really glad you asked, because I happen to have some. 00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:34.879 This is sackcloth. 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:38.639 It's basically a potato sack. 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:48.000 So, what you would do is you would take this sackcloth and you'd cut out a neck, you cut out a couple of arms, and then you you put this on, and that's what you wear. 00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:51.919 So you can you can imagine, because I'm not gonna put it on. 00:12:52.240 --> 00:13:11.360 And here's the reason I'm not gonna put it on, because I read in verse 6 that the king removed his robes, and I'm not gonna do that, but you can imagine what it would look like if I had, or maybe you can't, but that so the sackcloth, it's this uh potato sack, and it's really itchy. 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:14.240 That's another reason I don't want to put it on. 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:19.679 But they would put it on, and that was for them a sign of submission. 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:30.399 So they were submitting themselves, saying, Yes, we've been wrong, and we're ready to submit, we are ready to do better. 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:38.159 And that's that's actually our clue to the second part of repentance that's really important, and we'll get to that in a minute. 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:49.440 But I wanted to say first that the Ninevites were ready to be better people, and it is amazing to me that God responded in verse 10. 00:13:49.519 --> 00:14:00.159 When God saw what they did, their repentance, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:01.840 So, what's going on here? 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:11.200 And I think this is this is so important in understanding God, who he is, and how much he loves us. 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:27.919 I think what is going on here is we're seeing that God is patient and he's persistent, and that he desperately wants us, even those of us who are undeserving, and even the worst of us, and that's good news. 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:29.519 That's good news. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:36.320 So it was the same with Jonah, um, God patiently and persistently pursuing him. 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:39.519 And in this, I think we see the gospel. 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:47.679 It's a picture of, it was actually not a picture of it, it is God pursuing us and giving himself to us. 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:54.000 But it is a foreshadowing of the cross when he would come to give himself up for us once and for all. 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:56.240 And that's, I think, really important. 00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:00.480 Here's what Sinclair Ferguson said about this. 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:04.559 He's a uh well-known theologian, um, easy to read. 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:05.840 I like him. 00:15:06.480 --> 00:15:13.360 He said, It is solely because we have a God of persistent grace that we are serving him today. 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:22.559 But as we notice in Jonah's case, God is determined that his servants will serve him no matter what it cost him, and no matter what it may cost them. 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:24.080 So, did you hear that? 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:32.720 God is determined that his servants will serve him no matter what it costs him, and no matter what it may cost them. 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:36.879 God does not deal with us in half measures. 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:52.639 He is committed to us up to the hilt, as it were, and the thoroughness of his commitment to us is the measure of the lengths to which he will go to to make us fruitful and faithful, and I would say happy children. 00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:56.960 He does not give up on his designs for our lives. 00:15:57.200 --> 00:15:58.960 That is that is so good. 00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:03.039 He does not give up on his designs for our lives. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:10.720 So God pursued Jonah, God pursued the Ninevites, and God pursues us every day. 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:13.840 But it's not enough just to recognize the flaw. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:15.759 Something has to be done about the flaw. 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:20.159 And this is this is the second step that we just started talking about of repentance. 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:22.000 It's submission to God. 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:29.200 It's it's our putting on the sackcloth, not literally, but certainly figuratively, submission. 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:44.080 And here's where we need to be careful, because we can recognize the flaw, we can submit and we can try even to do better, but the do betters are going to exhaust us. 00:16:44.799 --> 00:16:50.480 And certainly, I I would say for myself, that's probably the way I've lived most of my life. 00:16:50.559 --> 00:17:09.039 Uh, being a Christian, trying hard to be a better Christian because I needed to, and I need to measure up, and um feeling like it was merit that that God was looking for, and it it's not, and it's not for good reason, it's simply because we can't we can't do it. 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:18.720 Um so it's it's it's recognizing the flaw, and the simply trying to do better is the same thing I do on I-75 in the morning. 00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:31.759 It's like, okay, this time I'm gonna get on the road, I'm gonna drive down the buckhead, and I'm not gonna blow my horn, I'm not gonna cut anybody off, I'm not gonna tailgate, all those things that I think about. 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:45.039 And Jonah's big do better was he went to Nineveh like God had told him to do, and he preached, yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:53.359 Here's a spoiler alert, because in chapter four, we're gonna see something happen that's really interesting. 00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:57.920 Jonah submitted, but he didn't like it. 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:02.000 And he didn't like the outcome, and that's like me in traffic. 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:03.279 Okay, I'm gonna submit. 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:10.720 I let that guy in in front of me, and he was being kind of ugly, and and boy, look how good I am. 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:25.279 And and I'm I'm right back into the measuring up, trying to earn my um way into being a good person, and and and I I can't do that. 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:32.000 So here's the thing, and this is the most important part of what I'm gonna say today. 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:35.440 God wants more than our obedience. 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:37.920 Our obedience is simply not enough. 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:43.440 And his pursuit of us is not aimed at our obedience, it's aimed at our heart. 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:44.799 That's what God wants. 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:52.640 So, like Jonah, we can, and like the Ninevites, we can recognize our flaws and we can recognize that we need to submit. 00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:56.799 The question is, um, how do I do that? 00:18:56.960 --> 00:19:00.319 And the answer is, I can't do it on my own. 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:03.039 I can't make myself a better person. 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:06.480 I can never do enough do betters. 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:10.720 Um the good news is that Jesus did. 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:14.319 Jesus is your do better, Jesus is my do better. 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:19.039 So here's the third aspect of repentance. 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:36.160 And we don't see it here with Jonah, we don't see it with the Ninevites, but we see it with God in his incredibly persistent and patient pursuit of Jonah, of the Ninevites, of us. 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:41.440 And I think if we're mindful, we can see that pursuit even in our own lives. 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:43.359 Um, certainly I have. 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:50.160 And so I think I think the third aspect of repentance is, and this is what God is after. 00:19:50.319 --> 00:19:59.599 He's after a relationship, but he wants us to depend on him, not just for the big things, but for everything, even the small things. 00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:06.799 He wants us to depend on him because A, he's gonna do a better job than we'll do, and B, he can do it. 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:08.240 He can do it. 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:20.960 Um, and it's actually alluded to this a minute ago, um, it's actually easiest to depend on God when we're going through the difficult times. 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:33.440 And um, you know, the difficult times, um, I've I've lost a loved one, um, I'm sick, I've got a broken relationship, all of those things that we face in life. 00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:41.839 But here's the thing, we saw it with Jonah, where Jonah, his difficult time was actually from God, and that was a good thing. 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:49.359 But difficult times are not always from God, but God always uses the difficult times to pursue us. 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:51.359 Always, always. 00:20:51.759 --> 00:21:09.279 And for me, in just understanding that, that even in the difficult times, I don't know where they come from always, sometimes they're self-induced, but God always uses those difficult times to pursue me, so it gives me a different perspective on what's actually going on. 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:16.960 It's like, God, I really want to be out of this difficult situation, but what is it that you're trying to get me to understand? 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:20.240 I think that's a very healthy question to ask. 00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:22.720 Um, C.S. 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:24.880 Lewis said this, I love this. 00:21:25.119 --> 00:21:33.279 He said, God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but he shouts in our pain. 00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:35.359 And that's that's very true. 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:41.759 So, what is it God is doing in our lives to draw us to himself? 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:46.559 I I, you know, I don't always know, I don't always know even in my own life. 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:58.079 But when we recognize that, like Jonah, God's relentless pursuit is continually happening to us and around us, it begins to change our perspective. 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:02.240 Then we're in a position to live a repentant life. 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:14.160 And recognize my flaws, that's getting easier for me because as I get older, maybe it's easier to say, yeah, I'm not I'm not nearly what you think I am. 00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:18.960 Um give in and submit, that's hard. 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:23.359 But I think most importantly is learn to depend on God. 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:27.759 It's repentance is our active learning to trust Jesus. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:30.160 And that I think is a lifelong pursuit. 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:32.079 That's not a one-time thing. 00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:36.880 So the heart of repentance is relationship. 00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:39.920 And I think that's why God is so persistent. 00:22:40.240 --> 00:22:43.200 He craves a relationship with each of us. 00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:49.279 And he craves that relationship way, I think, beyond anything we can understand. 00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:52.880 But the truth is that we crave that relationship with him. 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:55.359 That's why we were created in the first place. 00:22:55.680 --> 00:23:11.519 We do lots of things in life to try to make us happy, but I think underneath all of that is our yearning for God, it's yearning to be with him in the garden as it once was and as it will be again one day. 00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:20.559 So letting go of self and submitting, um, but also learning to rely on and depend on God. 00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:25.200 That is what God is after in all of our lives, all of the time. 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:36.480 And the good news is that Jesus has made a way for us to do just that, not only in the big things, but even in the small things, like driving in traffic. 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:37.920 Let's pray. 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:42.960 Heavenly Father, um, thank you that uh you love us. 00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:46.799 Thank you that you love us so completely, so thoroughly. 00:23:47.359 --> 00:24:00.799 Um thank you that you give us messages in the Bible to help us understand that, but thank you even more that you pursue us in our daily lives. 00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:09.440 And I pray for myself and I pray for all of us here this morning that you would help us to see that pursuit in our own lives. 00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:23.920 Help us to recognize that even in the difficult times, your love is uh complete, your love is pure, and that you have made a way for us to be fulfilled and happy in you. 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:26.960 And we thank you for that in Christ's name. 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:27.599 Amen. 00:24:27.680 --> 00:24:28.559 Thank you, Davis.