Luke 15:10 “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Do you want to make heaven happy? Repent! We have such trouble imagining what it is like in heaven. We tend to go to one of two extremes in our thinking. Either we see God as delighting to “smite the sinners,” or we see Him as a Santa Claus figure, excusing everyone and everything. Both of those are lies from the devil. As God told Ezekiel, “I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!” (Ezekiel 18:32) At the same time, He is perfectly holy, and unrepented sin earns and receives destruction. (Romans 6:23) This is no game. We aren’t to sin so that we can repent of it! The Bible is clear throughout that human beings need no encouragement to sin. The Gospel is good news precisely because it recognizes that, but proclaims that there is an answer for it: Jesus Christ the Righteous, who died to take the penalty for our sins. When we realize that the Son of God really loved us that much, and John 3:16 becomes more than just a platitude to us, then repentance comes completely naturally. That said, we still have to make the choice to repent, because repentance always includes changed behavior. That’s not to say that if we stumble again we never really repented in the first place, but that is a possibility if the stumbling becomes habitual. As David famously realized, what pleases God most is a humble and contrite heart. (Psalm 51:7) It is when we come to that place that the angels rejoice!

I have had times of wallowing in sin, and I have had times of repentance. Sin has no pleasures that can compare with the smile of God! As I have shared before, I was once in a small prayer meeting in which the Presence of God was so strong and the joy of the Lord so intense in me that I literally said to Him, “If you have anything more for me to do on earth you had better back off a little, because my physical body can’t take this!” It really felt like one more drop of joy and I would be transported to heaven! That gives me some idea of the joy of the angels mentioned here. The “joy” that the world and the devil offer are entirely counterfeit. I am to walk in repentance myself and lead as many as will to do likewise, because when God gives me so much joy, I want to do the same for Him!  

Father, thank You for Your overwhelming grace. Help me be an effective channel of that grace, so that as many as will may repent and believe, for their salvation and Your joy and glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!