TEAR YOUR HEART, NOT YOUR CLOTHES

A mother told her child to clean up his messy room. The child quickly put all the toys and dirty clothes into the closet, then closed the door tightly. When the mother came, the room looked neat - clean floor, tidy bed. However, the closet stored all the mess that had not been tidied up. Isn't our life often like that? We are good at making a "closet" to hide sins: appearing righteous in church, but our hearts are still filled with jealousy, anger, and pride. In the time of the Prophet Joel, the people tore their clothes diligently as a sign of mourning, but their hearts remained hardened and covered in sin.

Prophet Joel exposed this falsehood firmly, "Tear your hearts, not your clothes!" (verse 13). God is not interested in outward rituals done to cover up sins. What God desires is a truly cleansed heart - not just neatly arranged on the surface. True repentance is turning away from sin with all our hearts. Why do we dare to open the "closet" and let God see our filth? Because God Himself declares His identity, "compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness" (Exodus 34:6). Not because we deserve it, but because He longs to forgive.

Now, in Jesus Christ, our sins have been taken care of. On the cross, Christ Himself bore all our filth. He does not hide our sins, but He erases them. True repentance is not just about straightening out our lives externally, but letting Christ cleanse our hearts. This is the time - right now - to stop the habit of hiding sins. Open your heart, turn back to Him. Do not delay any longer! --DSK/www.renunganharian.net