"Esau...found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears." Heb.12:16-17
The writer of Hebrews isn't saying what you might think at first glance. He's not saying that Esau found no repentance. He says that Esau found no place of repentance. His repentance was evident, and as a result so was his forgiveness. What this verse teaches us is that his repentance did not restore the position he lost in his community.
"However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." Matt. 17:21
There are temptations in the heart of man that are not easily removed, those that are only able to be extinguished through a very painful process. Now, to be sure, there are some sins which disappear in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye. Think of Saul of Tarsus. One minute he's walking in darkness, the next he's prostrate in the blinding glory of the Lord and when he rises to his feet the old life is left in the dust of that Damascus Road. Instantly he is a brand new man.
Fall is in the air. At least it is today here in the Upstate of South Carolina. Who knows what tomorrow - or next week - will bring? It may warm back up a bit or even turn off hot again, but today my senses tell me that Fall is not too far away.
I don't know if you're like me, but I think that there is something really fantastic about Fall. Maybe it is the cooler temperatures after a long, hot summer. Maybe it's the beautiful color of the leaves as they begin to turn from green to red to orange to yellow. Maybe it's Saturday in front of the TV, or at the stadium, watching your favorite football team battle it out on the gridiron. Maybe it's all of the great opportunities to spend time outdoors with the family. Whatever the reason, I have to admit that I love this season.
"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:2
It is only an inward law that has the power to set me free from an outward law. Many times I am as much a descendant of Mt. Sinai as the Jew. I go through this world like a school boy walking through the classroom, remembering that there are lessons that must be learned and answered that will be recorded. I talk about my accountability and my responsibility and the judgment that is to come.
"Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst." John 8:9
What a picture of the day of judgment. A single, sinful soul has a face to face encounter with Jesus as her judge. The ones who had condemned slowly left one by one until she is left all alone with the Lord.
I believe that is a type of Jesus' judgment of all souls. I think that after death there will be a meeting, a moment of solitude where the spirit of man will stand face to face with Jesus. I believe that it will be a moment of simple reflection and solemn review in which the past will be as present. I will see myself as I really am in the light of the Son of Man.