April 16, 2026 | Be Connected
Repent and Turn to God
Scripture: Acts 3:17-23(NIV)
17 “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. 21 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22 For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23 Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’
Devotional
It all depends on which way your feet are pointing.
Most of us, most of the time, move our lives in the direction we want to take them. We see something we want, and we seize the day. Want a career? Pursue it. Need a degree? Earn it. See something bigger and better? Buy it.
Sadly, this holds true for the worldly temptations too. 1 John 2:16 says, “For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.” The lure is too great. All too often we find ourselves going where we never thought we would go.
Too often, our feet are pointed in the wrong direction. We even have catchphrases that encourage self-driven living:
You do you.
Live your truth.
Follow your own path.
These sound eerily similar to the very first sin committed by Adam and Eve. “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it” (Genesis 3:6).
God told Adam and Eve to stay away from that tree. But their feet were pointed in the wrong direction. They followed their own path. Then they paid the price.
In today’s passage, Peter is talking to people who had committed the ultimate sin. They had clamored for Christ to be crucified. But Peter gives even them hope: “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus” (Acts 3:19-20).
The word repent means to do a 180. It means to turn your life around. It means to point your feet in another direction. Away from the selfish desires of the world, and toward selfless submission to Jesus.
In what areas do you need to point your feet in another direction?
