John the Baptist, a man dedicated to preparing the way for the Messiah promised in the Old Testament, taught that any person who wanted to experience Real Life should, \u201cRepent, repent.\u201d\u00a0 This was followed by his admonition that \u201cthe Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the ancient Aramaic, the original language used in that region of the world during Christ\u2019s time, the word \u201crepent\u201d did not have the negative connotation it carries today. It never<\/i> meant that you were necessarily an \u201cevil\u201d person. Nowadays the idea of repenting is usually filled with a painful subtext of self-incrimination, isn\u2019t it? But back then, the word \u201crepent\u201d did not suggest that you should suffer over your past. The actual translation of \u201crepent,\u201d or as close as we can come using modern English, was a very present<\/i> oriented word meaning: to turn around<\/i>. To \u201crepent\u201d was a spiritual instruction urging the individual to turn in another direction. So, in essence what John was really saying was, \u201cTurn yourself around. The Kingdom is here . . . now!<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
John the Baptist, a man dedicated to preparing the way for the Messiah promised in the Old Testament, taught that any person who wanted to experience Real Life should, \u201cRepent, repent.\u201d\u00a0 This was followed by his admonition that \u201cthe Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.\u201d In the ancient Aramaic, the original language used in that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":232,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,672],"tags":[1018,1493,1868,534,1019,1052],"class_list":["post-3183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-scripture","category-changetransformation","tag-ash-wednesday","tag-confession","tag-john-the-baptist","tag-kingdom-of-heaven","tag-lent","tag-repentance"],"yoast_head":"\n