Be Enthusiastically Repentant (Rev. 3:19)

The struggle with being corrected is real because it is a struggle with pride. Being wrong, well, it just feels wrong. My flesh usually rises up first and balks at any attempt to correct me—be it offered in love or otherwise. 

Then the reality hits me; I usually need correcting. By this point, I have usually compounded any problem that inspired the attempt at course correction to begin with, but at some point the cycle must be broken, and I have to change the way I feel about correction, discipline, if I am His child.

The first five chapters of Revelation make this need for the ability to accept correction crystal clear just in case I missed it in the preceding 65 books. And lest I question the authority of the author, who by the way was not John but Jesus, here is His affirmation found in the message to Laodicea when it lay in need of repentance: “These are the words of the Amen, the trusted and faithful and true witness, the Beginning and Origin of God’s creation” (Rev. 3:14b, AMP).

Jesus presents His credentials in the message to the last church mentioned in Revelation. His credentials come before His rebuke, reminding them that He has the authority to do what He says He will do if they choose not to receive His discipline, and know that His authority is a fearsome thing. THEN He offers the discipline and tempers it with these consoling words: “Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I rebuke and discipline [showing them their faults and instructing them]; so be enthusiastic and repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, your sinful behavior—seek God’s will]” (v. 19).

The Amplified Bible attempts to fill in for clarity’s sake what should be understood as a reader, and it is telling here. Jesus does loves His own dearly and tenderly, and He does show His child his/her sin(s) and instruct accordingly, but it is His authority that makes Him able to carry out the judgment to come if we refuse to accept His correction and adjust our courses, repenting of what He has revealed of the sin we are steeping in at that moment. 

The part that caught my attention today as I read is this: “SO BE ENTHUSIASTIC AND REPENT.” 

I am not just to receive correction, but I am to receive it enthusiastically or zealously as the NASB translates. Webster’s 1828 defines zealous as “warmly engaged or ardent in the pursuit of an object.” Warmly engaged. Hmmph. Not sure that describes my normal acceptance (or rejection) of discipline. 

Maybe warmly is used because I am to be so busily engaged in pursuing repentance, in changing my prideful way of thinking, my sinful behavior, so busy seeking God’s will for my life instead of my own that I am sweating from the amount of exertion required to correct my course. 

Ardent: A word defined as “Hot; burning; that causes sensation of burning; having the appearance of quality of fire; warm, applied to the passions and emotions; affectionate; engaged; zealous” (Webster’s 1828). Interesting, especially as the Lord's first words to this church offered in admonition are about their lukewarmness (neither hot nor cold).

In pursuit of an object—repentance.

I am to be really excited when God reveals sinful areas of my life and rebukes them (sometimes through people who don’t always have my best in mind but who most often do), and I am to pursue with everything in me, with an eagerness I would exhibit toward something I really desire and want, straining toward repentance so that I might have a right relationship with God, which is desirable above anything else in this world. In that sense, discipline, rebuke, correction is a gift.

It is urgent that I accept rebuke and alter my course. Time is short. The opportunity to repent might not come again. 

When discipline comes my way, Lord, help me to eagerly embrace it with an attitude that is not prideful, arrogant, or deluded, but with such a longing to be right with you that I truly want to hear what is wrong so that I may alter my course and dwell in your presence.

Jesus is standing at the door (v. 20). He is continually knocking (v. 20). When I hear His voice and open the door to restoration with Him, He will come in and we will eat together. A meal shared in love.