Maturity Begins Within Your Arms

Yesterday I read many texts, it just happened that way, I wasn't really trying. One was from the daily office I'm putting together for the Lent season at Exodus. One was from a devotional reading that my mom sent me. Others were from Ed Dobson's book that I just finished. And others... but somehow they all ended up coming together.

I wrote about wanting to move through the maturity process, and take the next step this Lent season. Well, besides the 2 Peter passage, Hebrews talks about the maturity process as well. Specifically, it contemplates the basics, the beginning of the faith. And thus the beginning of my journey in Lent.

Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don't need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. - Hebrews 6:1

Here's my answer to the writer of Hebrews, and to You, Lord. "No, we don't need to start again with the importance of repenting... but maybe I should start the process of becoming mature with repenting."

Reading Ed Dobson last night, I was struck by his exposition of the Hebrew word for repentance, which is teshuvah. Literally the word means to turn in the opposite direction. But, it has all sorts of different flavors that he broke down by tracing the root word, shuv, through the Old Testament. The one that struck me the most is from the story of Abraham chasing after his nephew Lot to free him from captivity. Lot had been captured at a battle near his home of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham was going to recover him. Thus the word shuv has the flavor of recover what has been stolen from us.

As I repent, teshuvah, I hope to recover the things that have been stolen from me. One of the big things is the purity of my heart and mind. So many of my sins are selfish, they ignore both You and others. What I've found, and what I wrote about yesterday, is that I get in an autopilot mode after devotions are over, where I just kind of go. And in this, my selfish mind runs most of my day. I feel like in many ways, my mind has lost the ability to be pure, to be committed to one thing, to be focused on You. I pray that I recover that.

I confess that even in starting the season on Ash Wednesday, I didn't fully engage the sayings and readings of repentance, as I was leading Exodus through them. Perhaps it is time for me to go over them again now.

From the Ash Wednesday reading:
"We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed; by what we have done, and left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and strength. We have not loved neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven. Have mercy on us, Lord."

But I read one more Scripture yesterday. Luke 15. About You recovering what is lost. A missing sheep, a lost coin, a prodigal son... You are about teshuvah. Recovering what is lost or has been stolen. And not only are You going after what is stolen, recovering what is lost, finding what is missing; but when You find it, You rejoice.

The loving image from the prodigal son, of You throwing Your arms around Your son as he practices teshuvah, repentance, that is where I am really beginning my maturity process. Help me to remember that the journey all takes place within Your loving arms.