Have you ever been walking down the high street or following the map on your phone, completely confident you were heading the right way, only to suddenly realise you were walking in the complete opposite direction? It is a sinking feeling. You have to stop, turn around, and walk all the way back.
In the Bible, there is a word for that turning around: repentance. And it is the absolute heartbeat of the message God gave to a young prophet named Zechariah.
If you have your Bibles, we are looking at Zechariah chapter 1. I am going to read from the J.N. Darby translation, specifically verses 3 and 4:
"Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Return unto me, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I will return unto you, saith Jehovah of hosts. Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets cried, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings; but they did not hearken nor attend unto me, saith Jehovah." (Zechariah 1:3-4, JND)
To put those older words into completely up-to-date English: The Lord of armies is saying, "Turn back to me, and I will turn back to you. Do not be like the generations before you who ignored my voice when I told them to turn away from their bad choices."
This is a gospel message straight from the Old Testament. I want to share three simple points with you today, my friends.
Zechariah was speaking to a group of people whose lives were a bit of a mess. Their ancestors had completely ignored God, and as a result, they had lost everything. They were trying to rebuild their lives, but God knew that rebuilding a city or a lifestyle means absolutely nothing if your heart is still facing away from Him.
The truth is, friends, we are exactly the same. We do not need a deep dictionary to tell us what "evil ways" mean. It just means doing life our own way, leaving God completely out of the picture. The Bible calls this sin. We naturally want to be the boss of our own lives. We chase after things we think will make us happy—popularity, passing exams, relationships, money, or the perfect image online—and we end up walking miles away from the God who created us.
But the incredible thing about God is that He does not just let us wander off into the dark. He speaks. He calls out. Just like He did through Zechariah, He is calling out to you today.
Look at what God says in verse 4: "Be ye not as your fathers."
He is saying, "Look at history. Look at the people who thought they knew better than me. Where did it get them?"
People like D.L. Moody and William Booth used to preach in the streets and massive halls of our cities because they saw people sleepwalking into disaster. They knew that ignoring God is the most dangerous thing a person can do. We might think, "Oh, I'll get my life sorted with God later, when I'm older." But God says, “Turn ye now.” Not tomorrow. Not next year. Now.
If your smoke alarm goes off in your house, you do not sit on the sofa and say, "I'll look into that next Tuesday." You act immediately. God is saying, "Don't tune out my voice. Don't be like those who heard the truth and just walked away."
Here is the absolute brilliance of the gospel. God says, "Return unto me... and I will return unto you."
Notice what He does not say. He does not say, "Return to me, clean up your life, fix all your bad habits, become a perfectly good person, and then maybe I will accept you." No! He says, "Turn around and come to me, and I will be right there."
How can a holy God just welcome back people who have ignored Him and sinned against Him?
Because of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hundreds of years after Zechariah wrote these words, God stepped into our world. Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live. And when He went to the cross at Calvary, He took all our "evil ways and evil doings" upon Himself. He paid the absolute price for our rebellion. He took the judgment we deserved, shedding His precious blood, so that God could freely and justly say to us, "Come home."
As George Muller and those early brethren teachers understood so clearly: it is all of grace. You cannot earn it. You cannot buy it. Christ has done all the work. The way is completely open.
So, my friends, where are you heading today? Are you still walking away from God, carrying the heavy baggage of your own mistakes, trying to figure life out on your own?
You do not have to stay on that road. Repentance is simply realising you are going the wrong way, stopping, and turning to the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is not standing there with a big stick waiting to hit you; He is standing with open arms, scarred by the cross, ready to welcome you, forgive you, and give you a brand new life.
"Return unto me... and I will return unto you."