Elul Day 12 - Prepare Your Heart for Teshuva

Teshuva points to what will happen in the future because you are changing your past behavior.

Amos 4:12
'Prepare yourself to meet the Lord.'

Imagine getting ready to meet the Lord. This is what we are doing when we do teshuva.

Psalm 4:12
'Prepare to meet your God, Oh Israel.'

So much of our lives is about preparation:

We prepare to eat every day.
We go to the store and buy groceries.
We prepare the food we buy and set the table.
We serve our well-prepared food; we place the food on platters, put it on the table... and then we eat.

Preparation is a process.

Each day we have a new beginning, and His mercies are new every morning.

It is as though He has given us mercy each day to prepare to meet Him.

And we begin the process:

We change one thing today that will cause us to be prepared to meet Him.
We pray. We rejoice in who He is and in His goodness to us.
We remember all that He has given us.
We commit our wills to Him, even as living sacrifices.
We begin our work with joy and thanksgiving.
All day long we keep preparing our hearts to do good and to live in His righteousness.