What is repentance? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a list of things to do in order to make things right with God? In the Middle Ages, the church worked out a calculus where a certain sin was repented of by performing a certain penance. Some still cling to this outward system. It fails for two reasons.

First, this system led people to believe that you atoned for sins by doing something good—as if God forgave you because you said a certain prayer or gave a certain amount of money. That is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that it is Christ who atones for our sins. Our forgiveness is by Jesus’ finished work alone.

Second, outward acts of penance alone cannot be repentance because they are only outward acts. God is concerned with the heart. The Holy Spirit is in the business of making you more like Jesus. Outward show without inward change is not enough. This is the problem that the prophet Joel writes about.

In the culture of that day, a person would show great distress by ripping (rending) the garment. Prolonged distress meant taking off fine and fashionable clothing and putting on course sackcloth. One could show greater humility and lowliness by making the sackcloth dirty with ashes.

When the people realized that they were out of favor with God, they were moved to repent in an outward fashion by rending their clothes and putting on sackcloth and ashes. This became a problem when the people went through the outward show of repentance with no change of heart. Godly repentance always includes change of heart.

Joel’s message is simple. Rend your heart and not your garments. Repentance must be real, not just a show. We recognize this focus on the heart as a theme of the New Testament, but it was a theme of the old as well. For example, circumcision was the act on the body that showed a man was joined to the Lord and the people of God. Through Moses, God called the people to circumcise their hearts (see Deut. 10:16; 30:6). God has always been concerned about our real person—our heart.

How do you respond when your heart is in turmoil and pain? Do you get angry at others, especially God? Do you feel sorry for yourself and dive into pity? Or do you turn to the Lord and cast all your cares upon him because he cares for you? When you can cast all your cares on the Lord, you will understand what the Bible means when it says God works all things for his glory and your good.

There is a temptation to turn to God outwardly and not from the heart. "Lord, I’ll do anything if you will just make this situation go away. I’ll go to church more regularly. I’ll pray more faithfully. I’ll give to missions instead of buying a new toy I’ve been eyeing." This may be a heart that is just trying to make a deal with God—willing to do outwardly what is necessary, without changing and humbling the heart.

Even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart with fasting and weeping and mourning. There is the danger of thinking that outward acts alone are the stuff of true repentance. There is another danger—thinking that great inward emotion alone is the stuff of true repentance. Great inward emotion may not produce a lasting effect. When God says to rend your heart, he is not talking about feeling really bad. You can feel bad and not change. That is not repentance either. As Dr. Watts says in one of his hymns: Tears of grief can never repay the debt of love I owe; Here Lord, I give myself away—it’s all that I can do.

God does not despise outward acts that show inward repentance. In fact, in v 12 he calls for them—fasting, weeping and mourning. Neither inward feeling nor outward expression is enough by themselves. What God desires is change of heart which is true repentance.

Even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart. If you thought that you were beyond repentance and restoration, hear God’s words: Even now, return to me. What will you find when you return? The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing.

In what way is the Lord calling you to rend your heart? Perhaps it is to give him your heart for the first time. Do you now know that you need a Savior? Turn to the Lord. Perhaps there is an area that you need to turn over to the Lordship of Christ. It is time to turn that part of your heart and life over to him.

Is your heart troubled? Give that troubled area over to the Lord and receive the comfort you need. Let the Lord be your vision. Return to him with your whole heart and find the fullness of his blessing for you.