Repentance Must Be Sincere

Note from today’s Bible reading: Exodus 6-9

God sent Moses to Pharaoh with a message to let His people go. Repeatedly, Pharaoh refused. Each time God responded with a plague against the land of Egypt that proved His power over Pharaoh and their “gods.”

Following the plague of hail, Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and expressed what appeared to be a penitent attitude: “I have sinned this time; the Lord is the righteous one, and I and my people are the wicked ones. Make supplication to the Lord, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail; and I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer” (Exodus 9:27-28).

Unfortunately, Pharaoh was not being genuine in his words. After the plague was removed, he “saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not let the sons of Israel go, just as the Lord has spoken through Moses” (Exodus 9:34-35).

It is easy to express a desire to repent when facing negative consequences for sin. However, too many times, this sort of “repentance” is really just a desire for the negative consequences to end. The desire to please the Lord is absent. Therefore, once the negative consequences go away, it is easy to slip right back into sin. Pharaoh’s example shows how we need to guard against this.

So remember that repentance must be sincere. This is the only way to get out of sin and stay out of it. We need to recognize that God is righteous and then strive as much as we can to be like Him.