For those of us looking for a better day, the responsibility does not rest with the pastor or the church, but with me.  Revival—a renewal of spirit that breathes life into people, institutions, and communities—begins with me.

First of all, I must be right with God.  I think many of us Christians think we are right with God, but I’m convinced we should take another look.  Paul exhorts the believers in Corinth, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! (2 Corinthians 13:5). Maybe we have prayed the prayer and we go to church; maybe we read our Bibles and set aside time for prayer.  Yet perhaps we’ve misplaced our trust, taken license with our freedoms, or mistreated our spouse.  Being right with God requires a continual turning away from ourselves and misdirected priorities, and redirecting our focus to the God who calls Himself Jealous.  It is called repentance, and was never intended to be something you do once and you’re good to go; no, it was always to be an ongoing attitude and regular practice.

Closely associated is confession.  God gives grace to the humble, and it requires a certain measure of humility to own up to thoughts, words, attitudes, and actions that do not please God.  Here, “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  It has always amazed me that if I’ll come to grips with what I know to be sin, God will take care of the others that I know nothing about.  Pretty good deal.

So I must get and stay right with God.

Next I must focus on my relationships, and by this I mean keep my heart clear of criticism, judgement, and resentment.  It is one thing to get offended, it is another to forgive the offender.  But forgive I must; otherwise I forfeit my forgiveness from God.  It is a sad thing to see marriages break up, churches split, and friendships unravel, all because we allow ourselves to harbor attitudes that tend to separate us rather than unite us.  If we learn anything at all from the Judeo-Christian Scripture, it is to love God and love one another—that is the whole thing summed up, and if we err here we err everywhere.  It is a hard thing to separate our relationship with God and our relationship with others; in fact, in the sight of God, they are pretty much one and the same thing.

Finally, there is the ordering of the life.  The Bible calls it a walk.  I walk with God.  I’m to walk worthy of my calling.  I get the impression that Christianity is more intentional  than I  think.  There are decisions to be made, disciplines to cultivate.  I’m to be holy just as God is holy.  Impossible?  Maybe—but that is the charge.  Ordering my life indicates priorities and practice.  My priorities should put God first, others second, and myself last.  My practices include all those things enjoined upon me in the New Testament.  I say practice because that is what it is; hardly will I ever master anything, but I’m to work at it nevertheless.  An ordering of the life means I direct it in the way of God’s truth, constantly making adjustments along the way so as to keep me heading in the right direction.

I believe the earnest Christian wants to see the world around him impacted by God and His kingdom.  He wants to see people saved and set free. He wants others to come alive and experience the goodness of God.  We call it revival, and we’ve heard of it changing everything—people and nations.  Well, it begins somewhere, and it may as well begin with me.  And it will, if I simply live the way that God has ordained I do.  My little life—as author and speaker Don Feder would put it—will then be like a pebble thrown into the sea, with its rippling effect extending out, God knows how far.