"THE times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent."
Repentance must complete its work. Imagine if there are no second chances in life, when everything done cannot be rectified and repaired, when every damage done cannot be indemnified. All victims would be living a miserable life.
A real repentant person sees to it that his or her victim would be restored to his or her original state before the damage was done.
The law mandates that every damage done must be restituted, mended and indemnified under the Revised Penal Code. In many cases decided by the Supreme Court, the oppressor was mandated to restore the victim to his original state before he sustained the damage done upon his person, property or family.
The divine law also mandates that real repentance must be done. If God overlooked our days of ignorance, it doesn't mean that we have to abuse that grace all the time.
There is a story about a man who stole from the coffers of the government. In fact, he is a tax collector who collected more than what is due from the citizens. As such, he became rich due to unscrupulous ways. However, when he invited Jesus to visit his house, he gave back what he has stolen seven times.
In today's world, that man can be compared to people who have stolen money, resources or property from the people without legal authority or right to do so. It can be said that they have stolen from the government.
They have taken what is not supposed to be theirs but is due to the people. As a country with a deep-seated history of corruption, imagine if all those who have taken from the government give back what they have taken seven times. What an abundance that would be.
Want to make this nation great again? Repentance is the key. It is common knowledge that the nation has been suffering from the effects of graft and corruption. Not only a few leaders tried to institute changes to address it but the efforts seem futile.
The nation has been in deep trouble over and over again. Seemingly, the more they tried to solve it, the deeper the problem on corruption became ingrained. This led many people to conclude that there is no hope and that there is no answer.
However, when those who should repent would repent, then this nation will not be hopeless. It would regain its original stature when other nations stood in awe at what was being done and envied from afar.
This nation will not be beyond redemption if it is filled with repentant citizens.
However, if it is filled with stiff-necked people who refuse to repent, then that means that we cannot remake this nation into a better one, one that the next generations of Filipinos would be proud of.
If repentance is the key to national transformation, then let repentance finish its work.