Matthew 3:1-8 (NIV) 1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”
4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
In reading this I get the impression that when we are up against a sinful habit, the central issue isn’t our weakness, but our failure to repent.
In other words, my repentance — to be complete — needs to show up in action. One way is to study my behavior in the Lord’s presence and ask, “where is the loophole? At what precise point of entry did I get started down this path?” and then ask, “What is involved in closing that loophole?”   You see, so long as we do not, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance” and close the loophole, there will be no lasting progress made in overcoming the temptation.

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