One of the definitions of repentance is to have a fresh view, or, in other words, to look again. When Moses and the children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness, at one point their wickedness had ripened to such an extent that the Lord sent in poisonous serpents to humble them. In the depths of their sorrow, they recognized the errors of their ways and pleaded with Moses to heal them so they would not perish. Following the Lord's instructions, Moses raised up a brazen serpent and commanded all who had been bitten to look to the serpent and live. Those who had truly repented had the faith to follow this simple commandment and were healed and saved. Those who were committed to their pride refused to look and perished. As far as we know this was a one time event, but imagine that this was not the only time that the children of Israel found themselves sinning against God and being chastened by another outbreak of serpents. Out would come the bronze serpent once more and all of those who had been bitten would be invited to look again and be healed and saved again. We will encounter many, many serpents in our lives as we try and fail to exercise our agency and our freedom to choose with wisdom and righteousness. God knows the serpents are out there, for often enough He sends them forth Himself to teach and to humble us. He does not intend for those of us who have made mistakes to succumb to the snake venom and die for our sins. He sent His Only Begotten Son to die for our sins and be lifted up, so that all who wish to live and be saved need only to look to Him. And if we are bitten again, all we have to do is look again. And again. As often as we are bitten, there will be the bronze serpent for us to look at once more and take fresh courage and a renewed determination to do what is right and to watch ourselves, and our thoughts and our words and our deeds more closely, so that we do not wander into a den of vipers and be bitten yet again. If we haven't yet figured out how to always avoid the snakes, I hope we will learn to recognize when we have been bitten and immediately turn to look again to our Savior that we may be healed and saved.
