Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Jonah 3:1-10 | Psalm 51 | Luke 11:29-32
ASH WEDNESDAY
“They proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small,
put on sackcloth.” - Jonah 3:5
When the Ninevites repented, they expressed their repentance
by fasting, covering themselves with sackcloth, and sitting in ashes (Jonah
3:5-6). They indicated “by their actions how they turned from their evil way”
(Jonah 3:10).
Some Christian traditions use this, Old Testament practice,
as a pattern for their devotions during Lent. For some, this means attending
special services at which ashes are smeared upon the worshiper’s brow. Often,
the ashes will have been made from the palm crosses which were used in the
previous year’s Palm Sunday service. Ashes are, for these Christians, a symbol
of repentance, an expression of sorrow that our hallelujahs turn so quickly
into apathy and indifference.
How do we express our repentance? This is a critical
question. Because of the way we are, if we don’t express repentance, we may not
be repentant. May this Lent be a re-discovery of our real sorrow for sin, and
of our deepest selves.
Prayer: Father, I repent down to the bone.
No comments:
Post a Comment