Matthew 3

Good morning, I hope you Friday is starting well.   In our reading in Matthew 3 this morning what struck me was John the Baptist's teachings on repentance.  He first states in 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  Then it appears that he is surprised when he sees the Pharisee's who came to be baptized by him. In his suspicion he admonishes them:  

Matt. 3:8 Therefore produce fruit that proves your repentance,

Evidently John suspected that these men were not sincere in their repentance.  In light of this, let’s apply this to ourselves. The Greek words for repentance (both the verb and the noun) occur 56 times in the NT.  It is not an uncommon theme.  I think we have to ask the following questions of ourselves:

• What does the fruit of repentance look like in our lives?  
• Is there evidence in our lives that we have genuinely repented?  
• What do you think would be some obvious changes in our daily lives that would qualify as the “fruit of repentance?”  

Please share your thoughts with me.