Psalm 7

"God is the shield that protects me,
he preserves upright hearts,
God the righteous judge
is slow to show his anger,
but he is a God who is always enraged
by those who refuse to repent."
Psalm 7:10-11

Why is it so difficult to repent when God's promise is that we will be welcomed with open arms when we turn away from the things of this world that are not of his desire for us?

Repentance is not something we have talked much about in the church these days. We have focused much more on the good feelings that come with a daily walk with Christ and the invitation to embrace community life with others who are desiring to know Jesus as well. But repentance is a very biblical concept. Repentance is all about recognizing the ways in which we have hurt others, ourselves, and God through our selfishness, pride, anger, gluttony, sloth, lust, and greed. But repentance does not stop with simply recognizing these things. Repentance leads to asking for forgiveness, making things right, and stopping the behaviour that we were engaged in prior to the repentance.
Yes God protects us, but his desire is to protect us from those things that would harm us from the outside. God doesn't make it a habit of protecting us from ourselves. So we hear the invitation to repent, to not anger God by continuing down the paths that will lead us to self-destruction and broken relationships. It is time to take seriously the invitation to make our hearts right with God and with one another that we might rest assured in his presence.