Quote of the Day (QotD) – Continuing with Jonathan Edward’s Resolutions

3. Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.

I like the phrasing "when I come to myself again." I think it has a solid view of sin for the Christian. When we sin, we are out from ourselves. If we are made new in Christ, sin is not in our new nature. We become like Nebuchadnezzar (spellings vary) who despite being a man ate grass like a cow. To repent means to turn around and we can expand that idea by saying "to repent to turn around, and come to ourselves." 


Also notable is his remark "to repent of all I can remember." Many times, perhaps because we are in a hurry, perhaps because we are simply lazy, we sometimes do a blanket confession "God, forgive me for everything I did wrong today." This, I think, is problematic. We cannot expect change unless we examine each action and attempt to see what was wrong with it, who was hurt by it and what actions can be done to prevent our repeating of the same action. Without that, how can we expect to be sanctified?