Repentance is another name for aspiration. –Henry Ward Beecher.
The first time I read that I disagreed. Then I began to think of salvation and a desire to be all God has in HIS heart for me to be. At that point I realized that to live a live aware of the need for daily repentance would be the only way that aspiration could be filled.
So often we think of repentance as the thing we do when we are convicted by the Holy Spirit that we need to come forward for salvation. But as I thought on that I remembered the phrase often spoken at an altar call, “those who would come forward”. Of course at that point they are asking people to physically come forward under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and receive salvation from Christ. But I would like to place before you the idea of daily realizing that we need to “come forward” spiritually. To constantly leave the dimension of understanding we have of Kingdom things and press into the deeper and deeper things of the Word and Spirit. I believe that daily (often hourly) repentance is the path that gets us there. We have often heard the phrase “Lord let the things that break Your heart, break mine”. For me, a position of repentance will get there.
Remember, repentance is not always saying naming sins we have committed it can be attitudes we have acquired.
Hope to see you in a tea room soon,
Elizabeth Foy