their religious professions. It was a call to stop and think, as if He
said to them, "You have lost your way, you are on the wrong road, stop and
turn round."

First He points to the right road. He proclaims that the Kingdom of God is
come. Then He says to them, But before you can enter in you must repent.
The people recognised the meaning of the call; they knew that if they
obeyed the whole course of their lives would have to be changed, because
having lost the true centre of life, they were simply _drifting_. The man
who is living without God is like a ship drifting on the wide ocean
without a pilot or chart or compass. For three years He pleaded with them
tenderly and lovingly, and at last they gave their final answer to His
message. They said, "We will not submit to the Divine government, we will
not have this Man to reign over us," [Footnote: St. Luke xix. 14.] _and so
they crucified Him_.

When we have been led by the Holy Spirit to repentance we see sin, and we
see ourselves in a new light. As soon as we really know God we cannot help
being sorry for our sin. We begin to long for a Saviour, a Mediator, and
it is then that the Holy Spirit points us to Jesus. Repentance, or change
of mind, is the first step, and then follows conversion--a change of heart
and life. The word conversion means "turning round." Jesus says,
"Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter
into the Kingdom of Heaven." [Footnote: St. Matt. xviii. 3.]

Think of God's two great gifts; first, the Gift of His only begotten Son,
then the Gift of the Holy Spirit. Have you received them? Perhaps you ask,
"How can I know?" If you have received the Holy Spirit there will be joy
and peace in your heart, and the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in your
daily life.