Lenten Devotional...Ash Wednesday

“Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with all your hearts,

with fasting, with weeping, and with sorrow; tear your hearts
and not your clothing. Return to the LORD your God, for he is

merciful and compassionate, very patient, full of faithful love,

and ready to forgive.” (Joel 2:12-13, CEB)

The season of Lent begins today, Ash Wednesday. Christians around the world will mark this day, literally, as the beginning of a journey toward the cross. It is a return to the familiar story of sacrifice and redemption as Jesus moves toward Jerusalem and the cross. It is also an opportunity for believers to have their lives marked once again by repentance, to hear once more the words of the prophet Joel, as God speaks through him, “Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate…ready to forgive.”

Lent calls us to return, to see again the grace of God at work in the midst of our sin as we follow Jesus to the cross. It is an invitation that summons us to “return…with fasting, weeping, and with sorrow.”

Seventeenth-century hymn writer, Paul Gerhardt, captures this sense of humble repentance as he writes, “What Thou, my Lord hast suffered was all for sinner’s gain: Mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain; Lo, here I fall, my Savior! ‘Tis I deserve Thy place; Look on me with Thy favor, vouch safe to me Thy grace.”

…here I fall, my Savior! ‘Tis I deserve Thy place. In humility, with hearts that are torn through repentance, let us follow Jesus to the cross, finding forgiveness, mercy, and grace.

Prayer: The Lenten journey begins, O God. We ask to humbly walk beside the Christ as we journey together to the cross. Amen.

Jim Abernathy

Join us Ash Wednesday for a service of ashes at 6:30 in the Sanctuary at Westwood.