John 3:1-21 - Caleb Richardson

All right, let's pray together. Lord, the work

you do in our lives, we know comes from your

spirit. The spirit works in us and changes us

and not a lot we can do to change ourselves.

We need you. So we ask you today to take this

very familiar text and help it come alive to

us maybe in ways that we didn't even realize.

We pray directly against the enemy, his servants,

their works and effects. In the name of Jesus,

because you are Christ victorious. And we can

cling to you. We can run to you. We know that

you love us deeply. And so we run to that today.

And Lord, help us make sense. Help us to understand.

And help us to see regeneration, transformation

in our lives. In your name, amen. Well, you guys

probably figured out what verse we're in. Today,

this week, I was having a conversation with one

of my track athletes, one of the throwers, and

we've been kind of talking about some spiritual

things, which has been really cool. And I said,

do you have a Bible? He goes, yeah. I said, do

you read it? He goes, a little bit. I said, what's

the most famous verse in all the Bible? He goes,

John 3 .16, of course. So today I get to unpack

the most famous verse in all the Bible. And if

I can't get this one right, I'm in trouble. So

a verse that everyone seems to know about in

the Bible, which is John 3 .16, right? So it's

all over billboards. It's plastered on pro athletes'

faces. It's everywhere. And although this verse

is really important and we're going to spend

time there, there are other verses around it

that are incredibly important and that I believe

will make this verse come alive even more for

you. And so that's what we get to talk about

today. You guys ready? Got your Bibles? And so

really what we're talking about today is this

concept or this language of what it means to

be born again. So as we get into chapter 3, in

our journey through John is that Jesus is going

to have several encounters with different people.

This first encounter that we're going to look

at today is with a guy named Nicodemus. There's

a lot going on in these 21 verses, and so we're

just going to jump right in and plow our way

through it, and it just tells it right out. Now,

John is a... Very unique. I love John because

it's a narrative. It tells a story. It's describing

what happened. It's not necessarily always prescribing

something. But yet in it are treasures all the

way through. Like every word just seems to be

loaded with deep meaning that we are really,

I believe, that we need to mine those meanings.

And so Jesus had an agenda. Our John had an agenda

and he wants to show who Jesus is and how wonderful

he is because he's calling us to believe in not

just that he existed, but to believe that your

roots go deep into who Jesus is. It's not a book

just for those who don't know Jesus. I believe

it's a book that if you really are serious about

it, I don't care how long you walk with Jesus.

The more you mine it, the more it'll just bring

depth to your understanding of who Jesus is.

So John chapter 3 starts off with verse 1. He

John 3 · chapter mention

tells the story. This is the man. There was a

man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler

of the Jews. Now, first thing we come out, we

just kind of work our way through this. We're

going to see this man, Nicodemus. Nicodemus was

a man of high authority. In the religious leadership

of Israel. And that was pretty important. Somebody

kind of described it as he was like both a senator

and a part of the Supreme Court. Like he had

that kind of power. And so Nicodemus, his name

actually means, and by the way, Bible names,

their meanings matter. It's interesting. But

the meaning or the name Nicodemus means victor

over the people. Now either that's how he operated

or his mama really had a high view of him, right?

Like victor over the people. He was a member

of the Sanhedrin, this ruling body of Jewish

people. So Nick was kind of a big deal. And he

was supposed to know this Bible really well,

better than anyone else. That was his job because

it was through the Old Testament. that you that's

how they ruled they had to judge it they had

to look down they i mean this is the kind of

guy that definitely 100 he had to know the first

five books of the bible not just know it he had

to have it totally memorized and many people

speculate the majority of the old testament memorized

like this was a serious this was a big this was

a smart dude a very powerful dude And so he comes

and we hear this. He comes to Jesus. Now, then

he says, verse two, this man came to him at night

and said, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher

who has come from God. For no one can perform

these signs you do unless God was with him. So

Nicodemus shows up at night. So funny how many

people. I heard this statement from, including

my own dad comes up to me yesterday at the track

meet and goes, hey, I guess you, you know, I

heard that Nicodemus was really the original

Nick at night. Now for an 83 -year -old man to

get that, who doesn't even watch cartoons anymore,

that's pretty darn good right there. I was like,

okay, I'll say it in front of everybody. Nick

at night, the original Nick at night. Nick and

Nicodemus shows up at night. And he wants to

have a conversation with Jesus. And we don't

know why he shows up at night. There's a lot

of speculation of why he does that. Maybe he's

undercover. Maybe he doesn't want the rest of

the ruling class to know that he's talking to

Jesus. I don't know. The point is we don't know.

But John tells us it's in the evening. He's going

to have this in -depth conversation with Jesus.

He's got a bunch of questions. And he addresses

Jesus, though. in a very interesting way at this

point, he respectfully calls him rabbi, which

is a term of honor. It's almost like he says,

we're equals. Let's have a conversation. So there's

not like, it's not like a lot of those encounters

with the Pharisees or the Sadducees that come

in and they're drilling Jesus. They're trying

to trick Jesus. Nicodemus comes at it in a sense

of, I want to know. And then here's some words

you can underline. Underline the words, we know.

He is speaking to Jesus on behalf of himself,

but at least a few others in his world. We know

that there's something different about you. We

know you come from God. Close. But we also know

that he is God, don't we? He doesn't quite get

it, but he knows there's something up with Jesus.

He's noticing him because of the signs. Now,

we know in John chapter 20, later on, we've talked

John 20 · chapter mention

about this already, but in John chapter 20, sorry

John 20 · chapter mention

guys, John tells us that there were a lot of

signs in the miracles that were happening. And

those miracles were to bring attention to who

Jesus was and the glory of God, right? They've

been watching this, and he's doing things. He's

like, eh, that's not normal. And he doesn't say,

oh, they're coming from another power. He says,

these are definitely things that come from God.

And Nicodemus wants to be near Jesus, and he

wants to understand Jesus. I love that picture.

I don't care where you're at right now, but do

you want to be near Jesus and understand Jesus?

And so Nicodemus... Goes to Jesus. And Jesus

is going to respond to Nicodemus, not in a way

that you would think. In fact, this just shows

us that Jesus knows what's in our hearts. He

knows what's in our minds. Because look what

he says. He comes to Jesus. You're a good teacher.

Let's talk. And Jesus just goes, wham, right

to the point. Jesus replied, truly I tell you,

unless somebody is born again, he cannot see

the kingdom of God. Jesus basically says, Nicodemus,

what I'm about to tell you is extremely important,

and it's the straight -up truth. That's what

the truly, truly word is. It's really important,

and I'm just going to get right to the point.

And he says, unless one, anyone, any person is

born again, he cannot... Get into the kingdom

of God. He cannot get to heaven. He cannot get

where you think you want to go. You have to be

born again. And the words, this word used for

born again can also be translated born from above.

It's not just born like, and so Jesus is saying,

is everyone has a natural birth? A biological

birth? But in addition to our natural birth,

Something must happen before you can see the

kingdom of God. You need a spiritual, supernatural

birth. Nicodemus goes, I don't get it. I don't

get it. Look what he says. Look in verse 4. How

can anyone be born when he's old? Right over

his head. Remember, before we go any farther,

who Nicodemus is. what the Bible has been pointing

to. Like, because it's going to come back up

again, but he just goes right over and says,

how can anyone be born when he's old? Nicodemus

asked. Can he intern to his mother's womb a second

time and be born? Gross. Just, what? I mean,

there's some pregnant ladies around here. just

use that imagery for a minute like it doesn't

work that way and so he's asked this question

he's like oh come on what are you talking about

now so we have this term like born again is something

that you've probably all heard about but for

nicodemus that was like excuse me and jesus answers

again truly i tell you unless someone is born

of water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom

of god Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh.

And whatever is born of the spirit is spirit.

Here's what Jesus is saying. If you are only

born once, you will die twice. You will have

a physical death and a spiritual death. But if

you were born twice, a physical birth and a spiritual

birth, then you will only experience the physical

death and you will live eternally with Christ.

If you don't know Christ, the second death is

eternal separation from God and you will experience

the wrath of God forever and ever. This is why

he says this is a really big deal. I'm going

to shoot right to the heart. You're a spiritual

leader. You better get this. Then he goes on,

verse 7. Do not be amazed that I told you that

you must be born again. The wind blows where

it pleases and you hear it sound, but you don't

know where it comes from or where it is going.

So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. Okay,

what's he talking about now? So the word, the

Greek word for spirit can also mean wind. And

so what Jesus is, when Jesus uses wind to help

explain what's going on here, he's like, okay,

I'm going to give you a metaphor. I'm going to

give you an illustration that you understand

that has the same language to it, the same word.

He says, it's like the wind. You cannot see it,

but you cannot deny the effects of the wind.

We live in the Mat -Su Valley. Duh. The valley

blows. I mean, it just does. You know when it's

blowing because it affects everything. Spiritual

rebirth is a work of God. Being born again is

like our experience with the wind. You can see

the wind's effects, but you can't see the wind

itself. Meaning... The effects of the Spirit

is visible in a person's life. You want to know

how somebody's saved? You want to know that they're

a follower of Jesus? The effect, how has it affected

their life? It's visible in a person's life,

even though the Spirit you can't see. Transformation,

regeneration happens. He's talking about the

change that happens from the inside when you

meet Jesus. But Nicodemus remained puzzled. Still

didn't get it. Jesus unpacks a little bit more.

Look at verse 9. How can this be, asked Nicodemus.

And Jesus flips it. Are you a teacher of Israel?

And you don't know these things, Jesus replied.

Jesus now shifts and he goes after Nicodemus'

ignorance. It was Nicodemus' job to know this.

To know this Bible. And so he's telling Nicodemus

that basically with all this knowledge, you still

don't understand the purpose and what the Old

Testament is pointing to. You should know this,

he says. The Old Testament books... had been

pointing to Jesus and his atoning, the work,

the need for his atoning work. For a people.

And so, Jesus continues. Again, that word, verse

11, truly. He says, real important here. Get

this, Nicodemus. Truly I tell you, we speak what

we know and we testify what we have seen. But

you do not accept our testimony. If I have told

you about earthly things and you do not believe,

how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly

things? No one has ascended into heaven except

the one who has descended from heaven. And then

he uses the term that Jesus used more than often

when he describes himself. He says, the Son of

Man. Now, here's the main point. Jesus is, he's

saying, he has authority to speak about eternal

truths because he knew them and he's seen them

having come from the presence of God in heaven

to us. Like he is the authority. It's like he's

saying, Nicodemus, you're talking. To the one

who's come down from heaven. You're talking to

the Son of Man in person. You have been waiting

your whole life to see the Messiah. Open your

eyes, he says. I'm right in front of you. That's

what he's saying. Pray here. Nicodemus was an

expert in the Old Testament. So what does Jesus

do? He doesn't beat him up over it. He just takes

him back to the Old Testament. And one of the

things about Jesus is amazing. When you go through

all of the Gospels, Jesus is just constantly

pointing back. He's constantly pointing back

to the Old Testament because he needs to show

you that everything in the Old Testament is pointing

forward. And so he does. What he does is he says,

I want to take you back to an Old Testament.

And this is a text that Nicodemus would have

known incredibly well. Like probably memorized

the whole story. Look at verse 14. He says, Just

as Moses lifted up a snake in the wilderness,

so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that

everyone who believes in him may have eternal

life. You go, what are we talking about in the

Old Testament? Well, Jesus is talking here about

an event that took place in Numbers chapter 21.

Numbers 21 · chapter mention

And I encourage you, write that down. Go back

with your regular Bibles and read through this

story. I'm going to briefly touch on it though.

Because it's really important. What Jesus is

talking about here, he says, look, Numbers number

21. Do you remember that? Nicodemus says, do

you remember the event? And he goes, yeah, I

know what you're talking about. I totally know

this event. And so he begins to tell the story.

And so let me just share the story briefly with

you. You go back to Numbers 21, starting in verse

4, it says this. Then they set out from the mount.

So the children of Israel there, right? They'd

just gotten out of Egypt. God had rescued them

out of Egypt. Then they set out from the Mount

Hor by way of the Red Sea to bypass the land

of Idiom. But the people became impatient because

of the journey. The people spoke against God

and Moses. Why have you led us out of Egypt to

die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water,

and we detest this wretched food. Which is, by

the way, what? Manna, what God had given them,

right? Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among

the people, and they bit them. And many Israelites

died. Okay, this is a crazy story. God had delivered

his people from slavery in Egypt. They had watched

and observed plague after plague after plague

come to the Egyptian people because they were

saying no against God. And God shows them their

power. And they saw all of this all the way up

to the very last sign. I mean, the very last

curse. plague, which was the doorpost was marked

with the blood. If you did that, they had to

kill a lamb to put the doorpost, and then the

death would come over, and every firstborn child,

every firstborn creature would die because of

God's wrath being on them. This is what he's

talking about. This is what just happened to

them. But at the same time, God supernaturally

provided Or rescue for them. Parting the Red

Sea. And they get there. And then they don't

have water. God gives them water. They don't

have bread. So God gives them food called manna.

Supernaturally. He does all of this. And it's

one of this, if you read the Old Testament, you're

like, man, will they ever get it? But the journey

that they're on is really hard. And in the process

of their challenges of their life, they took

their eyes off of God. And his rescue, and they

put it on to their challenging circumstances.

Gosh, this is just like the way I operate. Isn't

it? My life gets rough. I take my gaze off of

God, and I look at my own belly button, and how

does it go? It doesn't go well. And this is what's

happening. After all that they begin to do, what

do they begin to do? They begin to grumble and

complain. to God and to Moses. You know that

the selfishness is just welled up inside of them.

They've taken their eyes off of this Redeemer,

the God who's rescued them, and they've looked

back at their own junk, and they look back at

their broken world, and the desert they're in,

and the hardship they're in, and they begin to

complain. And this was straight up, church, straight

up. Rebellion, selfishness, and sin. And we've

got to understand how God sees this. Because

I think it's real for us today. He looks at Caleb's

selfishness, he looks at my own rebellion and

sin, and he hates it. So, what does God do in

this situation? He sends these infectious...

And this infestation of snakes, poisonous snakes.

You got to use your imagination here. Like, snakes

everywhere. How is that for you? Like, give me

the creepiest thing ever. And they slide in,

and then they're tense, and everywhere they go,

and people are getting bitten by it. And there's

speculation that the effects of the snake would

actually create a fire feeling, and fevers would

come over, and many were dying because these

snakes were biting them. Who caused that? God

did. And so you get this picture that God was

bringing this to them. Can you just picture what

that must have been like with all these poisonous,

venomous snakes everywhere? God's discipline

had its intended effect, though. See, God needed

to spank them. That's kind of what was happening.

To get their attention, to say, hey, get back

to where you belong. And so what did they do?

They repented. So God gave them a remedy. Look

at what verse 7 says of Numbers chapter 21. The

Numbers 21 · chapter mention

people then came to Moses and said, we have sinned

by speaking against the Lord and against you.

Now that's repentance right there. Like he just.

Oh, we've done it. So, intercede with the Lord

so that he goes to Moses and they said, intercede

with the Lord so that he will take the snakes

away from us. Then Moses interceded for the people.

Then God said to Moses, take a snake image and

mount it on a pole. And when everyone has been,

when anyone who has been bitten looks at it,

he will recover. So Moses made a bronze snake

and mounted it on a pole, and when everyone who

was bitten and had looked upon the bronze snake,

he recovered. That was God's remedy. Okay? Here's

this weird snake thing, and he puts it on his

toes. All right, you sick? Look at it. Look at

it. And they go, look at it. And they were healed.

So after reminding Nicodemus of this story, Jesus

says, just like that bronze snake, that's me.

That's me. Just like in Numbers, we have been

snake bitten. We have venomous poison in our

veins. Sin is in us. And we are... all sinners

in need of saving. We are all snake -bitten.

And in verse 14, chapter 3, it says, just as

Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness,

so the Son of Man must be lifted up. What is

he pointing at? Pointing at his crucifixion.

Jesus saying, I am the one. Who will be lifted

up on the cross? God is going to make me, who

has no sin, to be sin, and anyone who believes

in me, I will take their sin, their poison, and

heal them. It's a beautiful story. This is the

gospel right there. Then he says in verse 15,

so that everyone who believes in him. We'll have

eternal life. The only way to get to Jesus is

to look at Jesus. The only way to get to heaven.

There is not ultimate roads. There is other religions

and they do not lead to heaven. Only Jesus is

the answer. Only Jesus. And our eyes must be

on him. Without Jesus, without the cross, there

is no life. We die. We, because of our sin, have

all been bitten and death and destruction are

waiting. And it's true for you if you're not

in Christ. And it's true for every one of our

friends that don't know Jesus. When I look at

the kids I'm getting to coach right now, I said

this week, broke my heart. They have to look

at Jesus. Because what waits for them if they

don't is death and destruction. Looking at Jesus,

putting your faith in Jesus is the cure. That's

good news. There is hope. Now we get to the most

famous verse in all the Bible. Verse 16. For

God... loved the world in this way he gave his

one and only son so that everyone who believes

in him will not perish but have eternal life

now john 3 16 shows us the greatness of god's

love we sang about it today the greatness of

love and how how extreme it is that's why it's

the favorite verse Most of us memorized it, though,

a little different, didn't we? You're looking

at that version and going, that's not the way

I memorized it. Most of us memorized it by using

the word, so. For God so loved the world. Actually,

this part of the verse can be understood two

different ways, two ways. It's kind of complete.

It can mean God really, really, really, really,

really loves us. That's kind of what it means.

He so loved us. He so loved us. It's mind -blowing

how much he loved us. But then it reveals also

the intensity of God's love. It's just how massive

and intense it is. But the CSB version that we're

using uses the other angle, which is right, and

says, in this way. Meaning, it's a demonstration

of his love. So God not only really, really,

really loves you, but he demonstrated that his

love for you in this way. The proof of God's

love for you is that he acted on it. Church,

look at me. I love you. I've thought about this

a lot this week. I really love you. God has called

me to help start this church. I dreamed about

this church because God placed it in my heart

to see people come to Jesus. And God changed

my heart. And as you walk through the door and

you're part of this community, I really love

you. I do. And I have two sons, Isaac and Andrew.

And I'll tell you this. I heard this the other

day and I was like, this is true for me too.

I would not sacrifice them for you. I love you,

but I would not sacrifice my boys for you. But

because God loved you so much, he sacrificed

his one and only son. This is crazy, undeserved

love that only he has. I would do a lot for you,

but I would not give you my sons. I'm just not

that lovable. I do have a gooey center, though,

just so you know. So what do you do with a love

like that? What do you do with a love like that?

For God so loved the world. That God in this

way loved the world. What do you do, church,

with a love like that? You believe. You believe.

You surrender to Jesus. You hope in Jesus. He

is life to you. Or he's not. That's your choice.

That's what John is all about. He's like saying,

look, you see how big he is? Is your life rotating

around him? Because either you are or you're

not. There's no in between. Don't play the game.

Surrender all to this kind of love. So when he's

talking about eternal life there, see, we'll

have eternal life. John is... is going to explain

later in John chapter 17 that eternal life is

John 17 · chapter mention

first and foremost. You get him. That's what

it actually is. That's what he says in John chapter

John 17 · chapter mention

17. Yeah, you get to be in paradise forever.

But at the center of that, even better than that,

is you get him. I think that's part that's missing

with a lot of our conversions. Is that we think

about, I ask Jesus in my heart, I'm going to

heaven. But we forget the fact that what we actually

get is Jesus. And so we run around, maybe in

our faith as we're running around thinking like

I get out of hell free card. But your personal

intimate relationship with Jesus just isn't there.

Because what we get is Jesus. Jesus comes to

us. Remember I said it's not transactional, but

it's relational. It's meant to be relational.

Is your experience with Jesus transactional or

is it relational? When he's talking about eternity

here, when you get eternal life, he's talking

about you get Jesus. He is what you are created

for. He is the fuel you are meant to live on.

Jesus is. So this isn't just for somebody who

doesn't know Jesus yet this morning. Although

I hope if you don't know Jesus this morning,

you're hearing how much Jesus loves you. But

for those in the room that do know Jesus, he

is the fuel upon which you live your life. That

you live on. You need him. Now in verse 17, we

see the reason Jesus came. For God did not send

his son into the world to condemn the world,

but to save the world through him. Jesus did

not show up to condemn you. You were already

condemned. Sin did that. Your sin condemned you.

My sin condemned me. And we're all guilty of

sin, aren't we? Jesus came to save you. Jesus

came to save you. Here's what we do. Look at

verse 18. And anyone who believes in him is not

condemned, but anyone who does not believe is

already condemned. Because he has not believed

in the name of the one and only Son of God. This

is the judgment. The light has come into the

world and people love darkness rather than light

because their deeds were evil. For everyone who

does evil hates the light and avoids it so that

his deeds may not be exposed. I'm going to pause

right there. Isn't it crazy when you sin, you

try to cover it? Push it away into the dark.

That's what he's talking about here. Because

when you're a follower of Jesus, you feel the

shame of that, like of sin. But when you just

live without Jesus at the center, it's like,

that's good, it's all right. But I'm just going

to keep it over here in the dark. And he keeps

going. He says, but anyone who lives by the truth

comes to the light. so that his works may be

shown to be accomplished by God. What does that

mean? That means basically he says, look, take

your junk and you bring it to Jesus. Light. And

it's dealt with by God. So as we close, my question

is this. Band, you guys can come up. But my question

is this. What do you do with a God who loves

you so much? What do you do with a God who loves

you so much? The way we live our life oftentimes

is to live our life with ourselves at the center.

And we can actually look at what God's done for

us and we can go, oh yeah, it's all about me

still. But what do you do when a God who's, it's

undeserved grace. I have a girl on my throwing

team whose name is Grace and I tell her every

day what her name means. Undeserved favor. Getting

something you don't deserve. What do you do with

that? John 1 verses 4 and 5 says this. In him,

John 1:4

as Jesus, was life. And that life was the light

of men. And that light shines in the darkness.

And yet the darkness did not overcome it. If

you are not yet a follower of Jesus and you're

here this morning. God loves you. Today he is

calling you out of darkness and into his light.

And so my encouragement today is right where

you sit today is just look to Jesus. Confess

that you're a sinner. Confess that you need him.

You don't have to understand everything about

him. But look to him because he's the cure. He's

the cure. If you're already a follower of Jesus,

remember that your eyes need to be on Jesus.

Guard yourself from complaining and from selfishness.

Remember that you get Jesus himself. That's what

it means. Like, you get him. You have received

grace upon grace upon grace upon grace. So my

encouragement today is reflect on that Jesus.

Make that the focal point of your life. That's

what I need to do. It's what you need to do.

You know, the Bible uses this term, calls the

church sheep. And that's not a cuddly term. Sheep

are dumb. Sheep forget. And I was telling, so

we were talking about this today before the service.

I was talking to somebody about, who was I talking

to? We talked about, The sheep have this tendency.

Oh, yeah. John and I were talking. He was like,

there's this video of this sheep. You pull them

out of the trench. He sets them up there. He's

stuck in this trench. You pull them out and you

go right back in. Over and over. They're just

not that bright. And then he says, oh, yeah,

I'm going to bring sheep in to shepherd my sheep.

Bad idea. You and I, we are so prone to fall

into the ditch. And we have to get that through

our little sheep skulls that our job is to get

our eyes on Jesus and to stay there because we

are prone to grumble. We are prone to complain.

We are prone to sin. Go back to the same old

patterns over and over just like the children

of Israel did. But it's different. We have a

Savior. And we can look to the Savior. I'll close

with this one thought. My wife is reading chronologically

through the Bible and we had a conversation yesterday.

And she was talking about reading through the

Kings and how depressing it is because they just

do the same cycle over and over. And I said,

well, and how they don't end well. They came

to live their life and pitter out and make stupid

decisions over and over. And I said to her, I

said, yeah, that's true. But look at how the

disciples ended their life. They all ended well.

The 11 that remained after Jesus rose from the

dead all ended well. Why? Because of the gospel.

Because they have a savior and they have the

empowering of the Holy Spirit and that's something

different. And you and I get to cling to that.

You go, okay, this Jesus must be at the center.

So my encouragement to us today is no matter

what we're going through, no matter where we're

at, but get our eyes back on our Savior because

he so loved you. Pray. I think first and foremost,

Lord, I need these exact words that we just talked

about. I need them in my own life. That I need

to continue to get my eyes off myself and off

my selfishness and onto my Savior. Thank you

that in being born again, I don't just get a

ticket to heaven. I get you. I get you, Jesus.

And so we run to you. We fix our eyes on you

today. And help us, Lord, in our time of response.

If we in this church need to repent, that we

will do that today. That we will turn from our

sin in our own ways and run to you in your ways.