Giving Thanks & The Gift Of Repentance - Dr. Rod Mills

This morning, I was walking through thanksgiving to the Lord for specific blessings He has poured out throughout my life. He brought to my attention many times when He was having mercy on me in various seasons of my life when I was trying to get it right and obey, and yet sometimes failing and falling (especially in my early adult years). God was merciful with me.

During this time of thanksgiving, He opened my eyes to see the great waterfall of His mercy that He has continually poured out. Even though I also failed many times, I also repented many times.

Repentance is turning from our own ways and sins, and yielding to God’s ways, God’s love, and God’s righteousness. The more I repented, the longer my repentance lasted until it has become enduring repentance in each area of my life. I am not saying I have arrived or that I no longer have failures because I will only be perfected in the resurrection. But enduring repentance is a gift from God that came to me through much repentance and repentance many times—always turning toward the Lord, always forgiving, always surrendering to His ways and His commands.

Many people have thought that repentance is not something we really do unless we have entered into some big sin in our lives. Repentance is turning toward God in each area of our lives, regardless of how large or small the needed turn may be, regardless of how large or small our sin may be. Some have said that repentance is the act of turning 180 degrees back toward God. However, there are times when we are not 180 degrees opposed to God in some area of our lives. There are times when we only need a five or ten degree turn to be back on course in obedience to Him. Some course corrections are large and some are small. But any turn, back toward God’s perfect will and whole-hearted obedience is an act of repentance. If we practice daily course corrections (daily repentance) and set our heart’s compass and heart direction toward Him each day, it can prevent us from large deviations away from God’s will, God’s heart, and God’s plan for our lives. An ounce of repentance early can often keep us from a pound of sin later. Small course corrections early keep us from large derailments later. And small course corrections are usually much easier to make than large course corrections.

Practicing thanksgiving as a lifestyle habit, opens our eyes and our hearts to the mercy of God. It opens our hearts to love repentance and everything about turning toward God with our whole hearts. But we should not take repentance for granted or act like we can just repent later or when we want to, because repentance is a gift from God. The more we give thanks, the more we will see this great gift.  We learn from Peter and the other apostles in Acts 5 that repentance is granted by God.

Acts 5:31 (NKJV): “Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.”

In other words, people cannot repent until it is granted to them by God Himself. Unfortunately, there are many (both Christians & non-Christians) who are granted repentance and when it is granted, they do not repent.  This is why Isaiah tells us to seek the Lord while He may be found.  It is also why Jesus tells us that no one can come to Him unless the Father draws them to Him. These are not one-time events in our lives. Even as believers, we spend our whole lives seeking God, repenting, and drawing near to Jesus.
Isaiah 55:6 (NKJV): “Seek the Lord  while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.”
John 6:44 (NKJV): “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.”

Giving thanks to the Lord as an act of worship and prayer ushers us into a spirit of repentance. But let us walk in the fear of the Lord and reverence, understanding that when God gives us the gift of repentance even in the smallest things, it is a rich gift of love from Him.



​©️Roderick Mills 2023

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