Ash Wednesday begins for us a 40-day Lenten period that takes us to Good Friday’s cross. The cross is the landmark which tells us whether we are on-course in our life-journey or not, and if we need a new direction in our lives.
The assigned Bible reading for Ash Wednesday is from the Old Testament prophet Joel (2:12-13):
“Yet even now, says the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
and relents from punishing.”
The text is a call for us all to repent of our sin, and return to the Lord for forgiveness of our sin. Before we can fully enjoy Easter’s resurrection, we must mourn and weep over our sins!
The prophet Joel says that God is ”abounding in steadfast love” It is true that we all deserve to die for our sins, there is now doubt about that. But even when we are unlovable, God loves us anyway. God always has enough love, mercy, and grace to forgive us!
This wonderful story illustrates the overwhelming amazement of God’s GRACE:
A gentle Christian lady of the Society of Friends (Quakers) lived alone. One night as she entered her bedroom, she found a burglar rifling through her bureau drawers. When she turned on the light, he pointed a gun at her heart. She gently said to him: “Put that thing away. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s guns. Besides, if your need is so great you have to steal, then you must need my things more than I do.” She not only gave him what he was stealing, but shoved money it into his hand, all the while expressing concern for the circumstances he must be in. The next morning she found all her possessions on her front porch, along with a note which read; “Lady, I can face anger and danger and death itself, but I was powerless before your kindness.”
— Pastor David Fetter
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