"Therefore . . .
I repent in dust and ashes."
Job 42:6, NIV
Welcome to the first day of Lent, my friend!
I invite you to join me on this Lenten journey. Since this is a blog, you may be tempted to simply scroll down while deciding whether or not this is worth a true read, a deep read from your busy eyes . . . overly crowded mind . . . and restless heart.
Let me humbly suggest that there is much value in pausing and giving this journey a chance. This trek seeks to encourage one and all to become purposeful or intentional about turning the mind, the heart, the soul, and the body to the reality of Christ and the splendor of His Passion and Resurrection.
And let me gently nudge you to not spectate. In fact, I hope you will participate. As you do, my prayer is that you and I will "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18) -- knowing Him personally on a deep and intimate level. I also pray that you and I will grow in humility and sacrificial love as we gaze upon His face steadfastly for the next seven weeks.
It is all about Christ!
I invite you to join me on this Lenten journey. Since this is a blog, you may be tempted to simply scroll down while deciding whether or not this is worth a true read, a deep read from your busy eyes . . . overly crowded mind . . . and restless heart.
Let me humbly suggest that there is much value in pausing and giving this journey a chance. This trek seeks to encourage one and all to become purposeful or intentional about turning the mind, the heart, the soul, and the body to the reality of Christ and the splendor of His Passion and Resurrection.
And let me gently nudge you to not spectate. In fact, I hope you will participate. As you do, my prayer is that you and I will "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18) -- knowing Him personally on a deep and intimate level. I also pray that you and I will grow in humility and sacrificial love as we gaze upon His face steadfastly for the next seven weeks.
It is all about Christ!
*******
Today is Ash Wednesday in the liturgical calendar. It marks the onset of the Lenten season, a period of preparation for the celebration of Easter. In certain traditions, ashes will be used and applied on the foreheads of myriad Christians today as a sign of mourning over sins and a gesture of humbling oneself in the sight of the Lord.
Traditionally, the ashes come from palm fronds or branches used by congregants on the Palm Sunday of the previous year. Said palms are burned, consecrated, and collected as ashes for the first day of Lent. Christ-followers from religious traditions that celebrate Ash Wednesday usually leave ashes on their foreheads for the whole day as a genuine and vulnerable expression of their faith in the humble Christ.
Yet not all Christians agree with the celebration of Ash Wednesday. And even among those who do, not all Christians use ashes. Still, the ashes point to an invitation Christ sends to all of His followers -- to come to Him in humble repentance because our best waving palms, our righteous acts, are nothing but filthy rags next to the radiance of His glory.
"All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away."
Isaiah 64:6, NIV
What are our best waving palms?
Generosity.
Compassion.
Humility.
Tenderness.
Respect.
Love.
Joy.
Peace.
Patience.
Kindness.
Goodness.
Faithfulness.
Gentleness.
Temperance.
What a formidable portrait!
Yet it all comes crashing down as more and more people perpetuate, "You are the most generous, most compassionate, most humble . . . person that I know" and as our hearts grow more and more accustomed and reliant upon such praise.
How easily the very items we aim to rend to the Father become instruments that puff us up! How quickly the Christian virtues we seek to practice turn into forceful gusts of wind that threaten to sweep us away!
We are ever learning yet never quite reaching true wisdom.
We are ever reading holy writings yet never quite living in holiness.
We are ever memorizing verses yet never quite retaining the lessons learned.
We are ever drawing from the well of grace yet never quite holding the water of freedom.
Indeed, in accumulating knowledge and religiosity, we become overly stuffed -- stuffed with too much pride, too much esteem, too much recognition, too much adulation, too much plunder . . . much too much of anything and everything. Human praise keeps us so full of the 'self' and so full of oozing sin that there is very little (if any) room left in the heart or mind for the worship of Christ.
In His mercy, the Holy Spirit reveals to us that accumulating does not equate retaining. In the economy of God's grace, we can only retain one thing and one thing only -- that is, the person of Christ Himself. And in order to retain Him, He graciously invites us to rend ourselves -- allowing Him to empty our hearts of all the odious filth that repels God's holiness. Our Savior is so pure that He will not share His place with any other entity. He wants to be the only occupant of our hearts.
Hence, Ash Wednesday reminds us that Jesus beckons us, "Come!"
- Would you and I come to Jesus today "with all [our hearts], with fasting and weeping and mourning" (Joel 2:12) rending our hearts and not our garments?
- Would we present our 'waving palms' to Him, letting Him burn them, consecrate them, collect them, and place them not merely on our foreheads but on our very hearts?
- Would we come to Him as an act of willingness and readiness to receive the Holy Spirit's guidance and wisdom?
- Would we offer Him our fasting as an invitation for the Holy Spirit to sweep our hearts clean and make room for Christ, the sole occupant of our ever so lowly hearts?
- Would we come to Him not just during this lenten season but for the remainder of our lives on earth, exposing our hearts to Christ's X-radiating power to excise entangling sins and relying on His grace alone?
I invite you to join me in prayer.
Even coming to You, O Christ, is a gracious wonder. Had it not been for Your grace, I would not even know how to take the first step. Had it not been for Your cords of loving-kindness, I would instead be drowning in sinking sand and shame. Thank You for claiming and reclaiming my soul in Your mercy. O Lamb of God, I come to You with my 'waving palms' and talents. Burn them before they forge their way into my heart. Please, place the ashes on my heart and prepare me to be Your living sanctuary for all to see. In the precious name of Jesus, I pray. Amen!
Generosity.
Compassion.
Humility.
Tenderness.
Respect.
Love.
Joy.
Peace.
Patience.
Kindness.
Goodness.
Faithfulness.
Gentleness.
Temperance.
What a formidable portrait!
Yet it all comes crashing down as more and more people perpetuate, "You are the most generous, most compassionate, most humble . . . person that I know" and as our hearts grow more and more accustomed and reliant upon such praise.
How easily the very items we aim to rend to the Father become instruments that puff us up! How quickly the Christian virtues we seek to practice turn into forceful gusts of wind that threaten to sweep us away!
We are ever learning yet never quite reaching true wisdom.
We are ever reading holy writings yet never quite living in holiness.
We are ever memorizing verses yet never quite retaining the lessons learned.
We are ever drawing from the well of grace yet never quite holding the water of freedom.
Indeed, in accumulating knowledge and religiosity, we become overly stuffed -- stuffed with too much pride, too much esteem, too much recognition, too much adulation, too much plunder . . . much too much of anything and everything. Human praise keeps us so full of the 'self' and so full of oozing sin that there is very little (if any) room left in the heart or mind for the worship of Christ.
In His mercy, the Holy Spirit reveals to us that accumulating does not equate retaining. In the economy of God's grace, we can only retain one thing and one thing only -- that is, the person of Christ Himself. And in order to retain Him, He graciously invites us to rend ourselves -- allowing Him to empty our hearts of all the odious filth that repels God's holiness. Our Savior is so pure that He will not share His place with any other entity. He wants to be the only occupant of our hearts.
Hence, Ash Wednesday reminds us that Jesus beckons us, "Come!"
- Would you and I come to Jesus today "with all [our hearts], with fasting and weeping and mourning" (Joel 2:12) rending our hearts and not our garments?
- Would we present our 'waving palms' to Him, letting Him burn them, consecrate them, collect them, and place them not merely on our foreheads but on our very hearts?
- Would we come to Him as an act of willingness and readiness to receive the Holy Spirit's guidance and wisdom?
- Would we offer Him our fasting as an invitation for the Holy Spirit to sweep our hearts clean and make room for Christ, the sole occupant of our ever so lowly hearts?
- Would we come to Him not just during this lenten season but for the remainder of our lives on earth, exposing our hearts to Christ's X-radiating power to excise entangling sins and relying on His grace alone?
I invite you to join me in prayer.
Even coming to You, O Christ, is a gracious wonder. Had it not been for Your grace, I would not even know how to take the first step. Had it not been for Your cords of loving-kindness, I would instead be drowning in sinking sand and shame. Thank You for claiming and reclaiming my soul in Your mercy. O Lamb of God, I come to You with my 'waving palms' and talents. Burn them before they forge their way into my heart. Please, place the ashes on my heart and prepare me to be Your living sanctuary for all to see. In the precious name of Jesus, I pray. Amen!
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