Refreshed and Restored

In the Old Testament the Lord calls a city to repentance and explains what He will do for them if they will repent. He says, “Behold, I will bring [the city] health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth” (Jeremiah 33:6). This is the same promise He offers to each one of us if we will repent and turn to Him. We’ve all heard that we should repent. We all know we should keep the commandments. But sometimes we don’t stop to think about the “health” and “cure” that comes to us through repentance.

Repentance is one of the gospel principles that help us live in truth. When we do something wrong, our conscience bothers us. We are in pain—unnecessary pain. But by repenting our conscience can be healed and we are cured of the unnecessary pain. It is interesting that one of the Hebrew words that is translated as repent (shub) means “to turn back, return” or “to restore, refresh, repair.”

That is what repentance is all about—turning back to God, restoring, refreshing, repairing us. Repentance is all about getting rid of unnecessary pain and being healed and restored to God.