TODAY’S SCRIPTURE Romans 3:21-24
In Episode #101 of “The Andy Griffith Show: Opie the Birdman,” Opie has fun just pretending to shoot at people and other outdoor targets. Suddenly, he notices something in a tree in his front yard. He takes aim and shoots. Much to Opie’s surprise, a bird falls to the ground. At first, Opie refuses to believe the bird is dead. He tries to help it fly away. He pleads for it to fly. When he realizes that he has killed the bird, he is devastated. He runs, sobbing, to his room. Later after a conversation with his dad, Opie realizes that he has a responsibility to right his wrong. He then begins to care for the baby birds left behind––feeding and watching over them until they are able to fly away and be on their own.
This acceptance of our sins or our “wrongs” and then doing everything within our ability, and with the support of God, to make the situation right or better is really what repentance is all about.
The first step is often to be honest with ourselves and with God and to admit that we are wrong. Opie admitted that he killed the bird, but then he went a step further. He took responsibility for his actions and then put together a plan to take care of the situation.
Often we need a plan to help us with our repentance. Since it is so easy to revert back to our sinful ways, it helps if we have a strategy or plan to hold us accountable to our repentance. It is easy to say we are turning away from sin; it is a little harder to actually do it. That is why a plan that we can follow that helps us to see our success and help us chart our course is so important. Just like Opie feeding the birds and caring for them every day, we need a daily reminder to help keep us from turning back to the sins we are trying to turn away from.
Today, I will…develop a plan to hold myself accountable and help make the changes that I need to make in my daily journey so that I will stand firm in my repentance.