FROM SPIRITUAL OUTLAWS TO RESPECTABLE CITIZENS

“Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” [Matthew 4:17]

Teacher Uteah: “Both John the Baptist and Jesus admonished their peers to repent. It points to the crucial fact that heartfelt repentance is the prerequisite for the official entry in the family of God. Let us ponder that fact more in-depth.

“Those who do not live in alignment with the Divine Vision for their life are moving in the wrong direction—becoming increasingly estranged from their life’s purpose. It makes perfect sense that a turn-around is needed. How does it occur?

“They need to be made aware either through a divinely orchestrated intervention or of their own through the unpleasantness of their mental and emotional states resulting from their maladaptation to life. Indeed, whenever you break the natural laws of right living, you experience a sense of restlessness and inner turmoil, due to another natural safeguard put in place by the Divine to help you come to your spiritual senses—sooner or later. Such unwelcome feelings will subsist until you willingly yield to the whispers of your Inner Guide or the caring warnings of those who have your highest good at heart.

“Repentance is not a dreadful chore. It cannot be forced nor coerced. Your entry into the Family of God is a cause for celebration, not something you do half-heartedly, fearing that you will come to regret the life you led as a spiritual outlaw.

“The prodigal son of Jesus’ parable went through that mighty conversion process. He came to realize that the life of sensual gratification he was leading up to that point could never fulfill the true longings of his heart. One day, he stopped resisting, no longer wanting to be torn apart by this emotional tug-of-war, and he rejoined the Home Team.

“To this day, to gain access to the rightful ways of living requires a defecting from your misguided ways. While nailed to the cross, Jesus reiterated this admonition, and His Spirit of Truth speaks in the same vein. It is primordial to come to a full stop and put everything on hold in order to listen to the Divine Leadings that can only be heard in the Stillness of your Heart. Once you decide to give up your unproductive and harmful habits, you may be taken aback by the surge of joy and relief that will flood your being—a far stretch from the feelings of loss and deprivation you dreaded you would experience. Those are the first stirrings of the spiritual springtime you are about to experience.”