You know, no matter what you have done, no matter what you have thought, a person who sincerely does teshuvah (repentance) will be forgiven by HaShem. HaShem is merciful and loving and wants those who have walked away from Him to return, those who are with Him to stay, and those who have never been near Him to come close.
The major obstacle that keeps us from turning back or even coming close to HaShem is ourselves. Some might say it is because of pride, some may say because of humiliation, some may say arrogance. I say all the above and then some.
We humans are fickle. If the situation is dire enough or painful enough, we may consider calling out to HaShem. But if we know that along with that we will need to humble ourselves and possibly make efforts to repair other relationships, we might pause and then just scrap the whole idea. Why is that? And if things are going good why should we?
Why do we fear other people more than we fear the One Who Created us?
We will forego speaking to people, asking for forgiveness, or even standing by while they commit behaviors that are harmful, just so they won’t be “mad at us”.
Proverbs 1:7 says the fear of HaShem is the beginning of wisdom, not the “fear of man”. Maybe that is part of our problem. If the fear of HaShem is the beginning of wisdom, the fear of man must be the beginning of ignorance.
The fear of HaShem is a commandment. Deuteronomy 10:20 teaches us to fear Him and hold fast to him. When we are tempted to sin, what is this thing that may keep us from it, people who may see us or find out, or HaShem that does see us?
Another teaching from the Torah says that we should not fear any man (Deuteronomy 1:17).
HaShem sees all and knows all, and we will be held accountable for all of our actions. But if we sincerely and truthfully repent and humble ourselves before HaShem, the decrees and punishments against us may not be so severe. In fact we may experience joy for once in our lives. We will still have to deal with the consequences of our actions, but we can do it with the help and guidance from heaven.
To think we don’t need to repent, is just ridiculous we all need to. To not fear HaShem is ignorant.
Repent and Fear HaShem.
