God prefers obedience over repentance

There is a saying that God prefers your obedience now to your repentance later. There is a lot of truth to this. In fact, it is 100% true. Repentance is certainly a good thing that God desires, but the only reason you need to repent in the first place is because you either did something God didn't desire, or didn't do something He did desire.

Think of as many apologies you have ever received as you can. How did you respond? A heartfelt apology is a beautiful thing. It is not made somehow more beautiful by the fact that the initial wrong was committed. Everyone would prefer their friends, family etc. would not wrong them. Rather, the beauty is in the redress of that wrong, and the resulting restoration of what may now be an equally or more powerful relationship.

Contrast that with a not-so-heartfelt apology. I'm not really sorry for wronging you. I'm sorry because I got caught. I'm sorry because I don't want to be punished. I'm sorry because I want something from you. I'm sorry because I want to appear as a good person. Do any of these apologies mean anything to you? If you can detect them (and believe me, God can detect them), the answer is going to be a no. Of course you don't want an insincere apology. What is the point of such apologies? The wrong is not redressed, the relationship is still broken, and now even a real apology will be cheapened.

As I write this, I am reminded of a Doctor Who episode entitled "A Town Called Mercy". A mad cyborg gunslinger seeks revenge against the mad scientists who created him. The last survivor, named Kahler-Jex, had previously landed near a town on earth, of course called Mercy, and being a scientist, had provided significant help to the town. The gunslinger has been programmed to never harm innocent lives, and so Jex is able to use these people as a shield.

The Doctor turns up, discovers all this, and tries to turn Jex over. Jex argues that he has redeemed himself by helping the town, sparking the Doctor's fierce anger, and prompting a powerful phrase: "Justice doesn't work like that! You don't get to decide when your debt is paid!"

As the rest of the episode plays out, Jex takes the Doctor's words on board, and ultimately sacrifices himself to save the town. The gunslinger even seems to recognise nobility in this genuine act of repentance. Notice the change. Jex's initial acts of atonement were entirely for himself. He wasn't doing good either for goodness' sake, neither was he doing good to actually atone for his crimes. Rather, he was using these good deeds as a way of escaping justice. It was sheer cowardice. In sacrificing himself, Jex ultimately showed true repentance by facing the very thing he had previously run from.

God is much like the gunslinger. For sure, He is far more rational, significantly more capable of executing justice, and far more willing to show mercy. But in the sense that He is a wronged party who pays more attention to the heart than the deeds, God is like the gunslinger.

We see an example of this in Zechariah 7. The priests and the prophets were asking "Should I weep in the fifth month and fast as I have done for so many years?", and so God sent Zechariah to drop a truth bomb on them: Check your motives. Before you ask "should I weep and fast", ask yourself why you are weeping or fasting. Are you doing it for God? There is no point in fasting if it isn't specifically for God, and what God prefers significantly more than fasting, or indeed any religious ritual, is obedience. Justice, mercy, compassion, love, these are all significantly greater to God than weeping or fasting.

So check your motives. Obey God, and if you've failed to do so, don't try to make it up to Him in your own way, make it up to Him in His. Repent, stop doing whatever it is you've done wrong, start doing whatever it is you're supposed to do, just obey God. That is what pleases Him.