John the Baptist had a message of repentance. The word in the original language literally means "to know after." The idea is a comparison between what I used to know (or knew before) and what I know now (or knew after.) It is trying to describe a change of mind.
John called for a change of mind about sin, about God, and about a way of life. Most people associate repentance primarily with sin. Repentance comes to mean: don't do that.
John called the Jewish leaders to repent. In the Jews' minds, those needing to repent the least were the leaders, because they kept the law the most. The leaders had developed a religious system. He, who checks the most boxes, wins. The religious leaders felt quite righteous in their system. They felt they were more accepted by God, than the rest of the people.
But what if repentance is not so much what we are turning from, but what we are turning to?
First, if our focus is primarily on stopping certain behaviors, we wind up creating a vacuum. Some other behavior will fill it. Perhaps, one that is worse than the original.
Second, life is not about what we don't do. Life about what we do do. We are designed to live by faith, hope, and love. We are designed for fellowship with the Father. And behavior modification is just another expression of religion.
Please, do not misunderstand. I am not wanting to minimize sin, or God's stand against it. It just seems to me that choosing to give allegiance to Jesus is more important than choosing not to sin.
We do not have the power to stop sinning no matter how much we hate it. It is when we give allegiance to Jesus, that we receive forgiveness, a new identity, and God's presence, which provides the power for transformation.
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