“Thank you for the gift of repentance.” I wrote this during a stream-of-consciousness journaling one morning. The gift of repentance? What is that? I then started singing the refrain from the hymn Is Your All on the Altar? How are these two connected? This was a Jeremiah 33:3 time—what am I supposed to learn?
Here’s my AHA.
Gift of Repentance
“For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.”
1 Corinthians 6:20 (NRSVUE) [1]
What gift gives me repentance? As I’ve written previously, God gave us the ultimate gift. The Christian world celebrates Christmas as the day Jesus Christ, our Savior was born. Jesus is the gift God gave to save us—to restore our relationship with Him. The Christian world honors Easter (or Resurrection Day) as the day Jesus Christ arose from the tomb. His death destroyed the veil separating God from His people. His resurrection created the new temple where we can commune with God directly. Because of this Gift, we can approach God for ourselves, with repentant hearts seeking forgiveness for our sins and restoration with Him. Jesus is our gift of repentance. It is a never-ending gift. Always available. Always renewable.
The Old Hymn
The hymn Is Your All on the Altar? encourages us to leave our burdens, cares, and sorrows at the altar. To surrender our will to the Lord there. To give our heart, body, and soul. But I propose we take it further. How can we present all on the altar if our heart, body, or soul is stained with sin? Sin is a burden. To lay all on the altar of the Lord means using the gift of repentance; we must also lay our sins on that altar. To get the sweet peace, faith, and rest the song describes requires confessing our sins at the altar and knowing God forgives us. Confession lets God know that we want a healed relationship with Him and are ready for all He offers.
Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?
Your heart does the Spirit control?
You can only be blest,
And have peace and sweet rest,
As you yield Him your body and soul.[2]
Accepting the Gift at the Altar
We can go to the altar because of the gift of repentance. Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection opened the altar—direct access to God—to each of us. We can take full advantage of that gift by laying not only our burdens, sorrow, and cares, but also our sins on that altar. The gift of repentance is available to all who accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. The altar He provides is open to all.
Reflection
How have you used the gift of repentance? How often do you lay the burden of sin on the Lord’s altar?
Related Posts:
Regifting Jesus
Convicted
[1] Scripture quotation is taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
[2] Refrain from the hymn Is Your All on the Altar? in the public domain
The key is to leave it on the altar and not pick it up again. That’s the difficult part
Yes indeed, it is hard to Lay and Leave: Lay it on the altar and LEAVE it there.