Let the Journey Begin!

Today, Ash Wednesday, begins the 40-day journey of Lent, a time when the community of God’s saints prepare ourselves in confession and repentance to commemorate the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Dear brothers and sisters, let’s join the people of God around the world on this amazing spiritual journey!

Ash Wednesday reminds us of our mortality and frailty (Gen 2:7; Ps 90:3-6) and of God’s gracious call to repent and turning around from our sinful ways.  Let’s read Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy hill.

   Let all who live in the land tremble, 
for the day of the LORD is coming. 
It is close at hand— 
 

2 a day of darkness and gloom, 
a day of clouds and blackness. 


Like dawn spreading across the mountains, a large and mighty army comes, 


such as never was of old, nor ever will be in ages to come.

Rend Your Heart

12 “Even now,” declares the LORD,  “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

13 Rend your heart 
and not your garments. 
Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, 
and He relents from sending calamity. 


14 Who knows? He may turn and relent 
and leave behind a blessing — 
grain offerings and drink offerings 
for the LORD your God.

15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, 
declare a holy fast, 
call a sacred assembly. 


16 Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; 


bring together the elders, gather the children, 
those nursing at the breast. 


Let the bridegroom leave his room 
and the bride her chamber. 


17 Let the priests, who minister before the LORD, 
weep between the portico and the altar. 


Let them say, “Spare your people, LORD. 
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, 
a byword among the nations. 


Why should they say among the peoples, 
‘Where is their God?’”

At the time of this prophecy, the Israelites were facing an unprecedented disaster (Joel 1:4).  The community of God recognized that this disaster was a sign of the coming of the LORD’s judgment.  What should be the community’s response?  They should gather for fasting and prayer.  Their hope was in God’s grace, mercy, and love (2:13).

What is God speaking to us today?

1)    God’s judgment is real.  It may not seem like a good thing at first glance, yet we are indeed accountable for our own sin, be it personal or communal (2:1-2).  What consequences of sin are you facing today?

2)    God calls us to return to Him.  It is our divided loyalty and devotion to other gods (power, fame, wealth, sex, material possessions…) that result in exhaustion, , apathy, anger, addictions of many sorts…  Our repentance cannot just scratch the surface but must be a deep cry from our heart (2:12-13, 15).  How long has it been since you confessed your sins?  Do you hear God’s gracious call to return to Him today?  Ask the Lord to show you “The” specific false gods in your life.  Are you ready to turn away from “those” gods?  Ask the Lord for strength.

3)    We return to a God who is “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love” (2:13).  This is the bedrock of Israelites’ faith.  As the redeemed by Jesus Christ, we know this love of God even deeper (Rom 5:8).  So let’s kneel down before the throne of grace with boldness, not only individually, but also as a community (2:15-17). 

Let the journey begin!

Prayer:

Dear Lord, thank You for Your gracious call to return!  Grant me a broken spirit to confess my sins and acknowledge the consequences of sin in my life.  Give me the hope in Christ that I can be delivered from the bondage of sin through the power of the Holy Spirit.  In Jesus’ name, Amen!