Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take with you words and return to the Lord; say to him, “Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips.
Return. O please return to the LORD.
It is never to late. No matter how far we have fallen He still waits our return. And as we return our words can not be alone. Just an "I'm sorry" doesn't cut it alone.
We must let Him take our sins. We must accept the judgment and punishment He places upon us for our good. We must DO and ACT as we say that we will. Words without action are just makeup on a corpse. Rather come back to life and act on your faith.
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.
Hypokrisis. In greek theater the actors (hypokrisis) all wore masks. The hypocrite played a part that you could recognize from the mask and costumes.
As you go about your daily walk do you wear a mask? Do you wear garments of fasting and weeping that everyone can recognize?
Or ...
Did you rend your heart and not your clothes?
It isn't the face you show the world. It is the heart you show the LORD.
“Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
We return, repent, and rend our hearts because Christ alone is our Savior. Upon Him was the judgment of our sins. There is joy in the knowledge of Christ. There will be no more weeping when with Him we will rest.
So ... weep no more. Take joy in suffering with Christ. Take joy in a creation that cries out to praise our Savior. Take joy in salvation.
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