Last week I mentioned some Lenten Disciplines to take up throughout 40 days between now and Lent. This week, I am choosing Repentance.
On Ash Wednesday many walked out of the sanctuary with the mark of ashes in the shape of the cross on our foreheads. This is not a mark to bear lightly. Throughout history, ashes have signified purification, and our sorrow for our sins. This mark is an outward and visible sign of that sorrow, and of our repentance, of our desire and commitment to changing and turning back toward God.
This mark is an outward and visible reminder of our mortality and our inability to cleanse ourselves. As we washed our faces before bed, it served as a reminder that our sins, no matter how many or how great they are, are wiped clean when we confess our sins before God and believe in the good news- that Christ died for us while we were yet sinners, proving God’s love towards us- because God, who is faithful and just, forgives our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.
As I write this, I sit in the sanctuary as people come for their moment of repentance and assurance of pardon, their moment of deciding to turn back towards God, their moment of being marked as a follower of Jesus who believes. Some are people who are in church every week, multiple times a week. Some come occasionally. For some, this is the first time they will set foot in a church in years.
What a blessing and an honor to be a part of the work God is doing all over the world! And to think it started with my own repentance and the decision to take up my cross daily and follow Jesus.
As you partake in your practices of Lent this season, how might you use your repentance, not only to strengthen your relationship with God, but to bring glory to God’s name?
Comment your thoughts below!
Blessings friends,
Pastor Nicole