Ash
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
…the Lord says, “Turn to me
now, while there is time. Give me your
hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and
mourning. Don’t tear your
clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the Lord your God, for he
is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing
love. He is eager to relent and not
punish. Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve, sending
you a blessing instead of this curse. Perhaps
you will be able to offer grain and wine to the Lord your God as
before. Blow the ram’s horn in Jerusalem! Announce a time of fasting; call the people
together for a solemn meeting. Gather
all the people—the elders, the children, and even the babies. Call the bridegroom from his quarters and the
bride from her private room. Let
the priests, who minister in the Lord’s presence, stand and weep between
the entry room to the Temple and the altar.
Let them pray, “Spare your people, Lord! Don’t let your special possession become an
object of mockery. Don’t let them become
a joke for unbelieving foreigners who say, ‘Has the God of Israel left them?’” Joel 2:12-17
The prophet pours-out that which God had poured-into him…Sound the alarm,
blow the trumpets, tell everyone you know, and those you don’t know. God was calling for a gathering of ALL
the people, and the message was too important to miss. And when the people came, this is what God
had to say:
“Then, after doing all those things, I
will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even
on servants—men and women alike. And
I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth—blood and fire and columns
of smoke. The sun will become
dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and terrible day
of the Lord arrives. But
everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, for some on
Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape, just as the Lord has said. These
will be among the survivors whom the Lord has called. Joel 2:28-32
Today is Ash Wednesday; the calendar says it is time to go to get a
little thumb-print of ashes and oil on your forehead. Some places are offering a drive-thru service…McAshes
King…no waiting for the flame-broiled religion burger. No kneeling, hand-sanitized and gluten-free
charred remains of the day…open your car window for a three-second, deeply-meaningful
grab of God…then get to your 18-hour-a-day job to take care of real life. Hmmm.
That’s a bit much cynicism and sarcastic exaggeration, but sometimes I
wonder just how easy we can make things for ourselves…even dumbing-down repentance
to a Methodist-Lite dosage. God says:
Give me your hearts! That takes a bit more than hoping the line at
the church won’t be long enough to make you late for work or tennis, or a drink
with the girls.
Down to business. That “little bit
of ashes” is an announcement to all who see you today. Does it say:
I’ve been an obedient church member. Or does it announce what the prophet was
aiming at: I’m a sinner. I repented, and God forgave every bit of it. He promised to wash it all away, and I’m
forgiven!
For You Today
There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library. To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: When the Darkness Comes and The Brokenness of Lent
Images: Title Pixabay.com Images without citation are either personal
property of the author, or in public domain.
Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
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