'Weary of Wandering...' by Charles Wesley

A poem of repentance, that has moved me to my knees more than once. It's written by Charles Wesley, but all bold emphasis mine... just thought I'd share.

As so many of us would acknowledge in speech, but much less often acknowledge in action... repentance is very different than merely saying "I'm sorry" to someone we have wronged. Repentance is the grieving, active response of my life - where I recognize and confess the distance between myself and Christ as placed there by none other than my sin - and I change my ways, by the help of the Holy Spirit. Saying "I'm sorry" merely acknowledges my sinful nature - but true repentance appeals to the righteousness of Christ, as being the one thing able to erase my sin and teach me a new way to be.

I'm learning this in my own life -  and it's interesting, that the more I learn about repentance, the more it's impacting the way I apologize to others. It's making me pay closer attention to how I word my apologies, and it's caused me to check my heart more by asking myself tougher questions: Why am I saying 'I'm sorry"? What am I offering the person I've wronged, by the way I'm apologizing to them? How has my saying the apology changed me? 

It's humbling stuff! To put it lightly. Anyway. That's my take on it... here is Charles Wesley's.

- - -

"Weary of wandering from my God, 
And now made willing to return
I hear and bow me to the rod
For thee, not without hope, I mourn:
I have an Advocate above
A Friend before the throne of love.

O Jesus, full of truth and grace
More full of grace than I of sin
Yet once again I seek Thy face:
Open Thine arms and take me in
And freely my backslidings heal
And heal the faithless sinner still.

Thou know'st the way to bring me back
My fallen spirit to restore
O for Thy truth and mercy's sake,
Forgive, and bid me sin no more:
The ruins of my soul repair
And make my heart a house of prayer.

The stone to flesh again convert,
The veil of sin again remove;
Sprinkle Thy blood upon my heart,
And melt it by Thy dying love;
This rebel heart by love subdue,
And make it soft, and make it new.

Give to mine eyes refreshing tears,
And kindle my relentings now;
Fill my whole soul with filial fears,
To Thy sweet yoke my spirit bow;
Bend by Thy grace, O bend or break,
The iron sinew in my neck!

Ah! give me, Lord, the tender heart
That trembles at the approach of sin;
A godly fear of sin impart,
Implant, and root it deep within,
That I may dread Thy gracious power,
And never dare to offend Thee more."

(From Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1749)