Who Knows How Long He Has?

Repentance is one of the most important principles that God has given, and the fact that He gave it is evidence that He knew we would need it, and that He will accept it—when it is sincere. He will not mock us by requiring something that He won’t accept. Sometimes young people will say (or assume): “I have made a mistake. I have brought sorrow to myself, my family and friends. The damage is done, and there is no point in repenting.” Let’s remove this fallacy first and finally: Having made a mistake is no reason for making more mistakes. There is purpose in repenting, and if there were not, no mortal man would ever live a happy and successful life, because everyone has made mistakes. If we could turn around and go the right way. But since sincere repentance is effective, there is never any better time than the earliest time to turn to it—not waiting to make more mistakes. Indeed, deliberate delay may cast some doubt on sincerity, and delaying repentance could be running too big a risk. Who knows how long he has to put his life in order? Repentance is part of the process of progress, of learning, of maturing, of recognizing law; it is a process of facing facts. Correcting any mistake is a kind of repentance; every sincere apology, every improvement, every conquering of an unhealthful habit. Matthew Cowley once likened repentance to a tape recording: “…the only thing that scares me,” he said, “is if they have…them over on the other side. Maybe our hell’s going to be when we get over there, somebody is going to turn on a television set and we are going to see ourselves…. Maybe he will turn on a tape recording, and we will hear ourselves speaking. Wouldn’t that be terrible?” And then he suggested that under some circumstances there can be some erasing of the tape. “That’s what I like about it,” he continued, “the erasing. I believe when we repent there is some erasing going on up there so that when we get there we will be judged as we are for what we are, and maybe not for what we have been.” Thank God for the great and saving principle of repentance.