I Am Sorry

Most recognize the words, "I am sorry" as the mark of John the Baptist's ministry. "Repent" But what is mostly forgotten is that "I am sorry" was at the core of Jesus' own preaching. In fact many of His sermons were just "Repent for the Kingdom of God is before you." I realize that many do not acknowledge, "I am sorry" as a legitimate theological step to living for Jesus but it is the most mystical and revelatory of them all. For without the "I am sorry", there is no acknowledgement of personal sin, no realization that I am genuinely wrong. I can never be in God's presence without an assurance of "I am sorry" pressed within me. What more can be said of Isaiah's confession, "Woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips..." if not it is a full-blown "I am sorry." The other day I was reminded again of just how twisted Satan can make our personal theology. I heard an "I am sorry" but there was a caveat attached. "I am sorry you were so..." followed by an "I am sorry they didn't act..." connected to the most unmistakable "You sorry..." The name God is wonderful unless Satan slips next to it a verb of denouncement. We are most Christian when we have an "I am sorry" flowing off our lips but if we connect it to someone else, we fall as far from Jesus as is possible in this life. "I am sorry" is the beginning of all praise and the true start to real fellowship. We cannot live within God if we do not have a few "I am sorry"s spontaneously jumping out of our hearts. We just have to leave everyone else out of our "I am sorry" if we want to get it right.