It's Time

"The time has come," Jesus said. "The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news." -Mark 1:15 (NIV)

The year before I enrolled at Ole Miss, on an October afternoon in Oxford, the Rebels were playing host to the Vanderbilt Commodores. Vanderbilt had the ball and called the play: Slot Right 150 Up. At the very moment the ball reached Vandy receiver Brad Gaines, an Ole Miss nickel back named Chucky Mullins made the hit. Chucky immediately fell to the ground unable to move. The collision resulted in four broken vertebrae and the Ole Miss player was paralyzed from the neck down.

That year, the Ole Miss battle cry was "It's Time." Two months after the injury to Chucky, he was brought by ambulance to the Ole Miss locker room to address his teammates moments before they took the field to play Air Force in the Liberty Bowl. Chucky whispered something to Head Coach Billy Brewer. Brewer then repeated it to the team: "It's Time." It was time to go win the game. It was time to win it for Chucky. After Chucky said that, Air Force never had a chance. (If you want to watch a beautiful piece on how Chucky's injury changed the lives of countless people, click here- but have Kleenex handy).

When I read today's suggested scripture, the phrase "It's Time" comes to mind again. Jesus says, "The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news." It's time, not to win a game, but to return to God.

Let's begin today by examining our hearts and minds to see how we've wandered away from God. But let's not stop with simply acknowledging the ways that we have wandered. Jesus says that we must actually repent, which means to have a change of mind. It's more than just feeling sorry for the consequences of our sin; it's actually feeling sorry for the sin itself and turning away from that sin and turning back to God.

I haven't met a lot of people who really like to admit their sin. But it's necessary. It's also dangerous. Why? Well, when confessing sin, it's easy to get stuck dwelling on the sin, becoming overwhelmed by it. "How could I have done that?" "I am such an awful person." "God must really be upset with me." It's so tempting to beat ourselves up when confronting our sin.

Please don't beat yourself up. Jesus tells us to repent, to turn back to him, to heed his voice instead of the other seductive voices out there. He invites us to believe
and to trust him. But he doesn't want us to beat ourselves up over it. Repenting and believing is not meant to bring us down; it's meant to lift us up. Jesus wants us to repent and to believe because good news follows.

Today, may God grant you the grace to acknowledge the ways you've wandered from God. Confess these things to God. Turn away from these things and turn back to God. Believe in God. And receive the Good News that comes from being forgiven. It's Time!