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CH A P T E R 2

Repentance:

Turning from Sin

to God

here once was a boy who dearly loved sweet foods, especially
candy and cookies. One day his mother baked several dozen
Tcookies. When she had taken them from the oven, she said to him,
“I don’t want you to eat any cookies until after you finish your dinner.”

Given his appetite for sweets, the boy desperately wanted some of
his mother’s tasty cookies. As the day passed, his hunger and desire
grew. At last, he went into the kitchen, opened the cookie jar, and took
several cookies. However, as he hurriedly replaced the lid, he pushed
the cookie jar off the shelf and onto the floor, where it broke with a
crash. When his mother came into the room to see what had happened,
the boy knew that he would be punished. So he pleaded, “Mother, I’m
sorry. Please don’t spank me. I’m sorry.” His mother was sympathetic
and understanding, but she was equally firm, as she said: “Yes, I know
you are sorry—but not because you disobeyed and took the cookies.
You are sorry because you were caught.”

Here, the boy was not repentant; instead, he was sorry for the
consequences of his actions. In this chapter, we will examine the
difference between true repentance and concern over the consequences

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