The Friday of Ember Week in Lent
Posted on March 14, 2025 by under
Scripture: Ezekiel 18:20-28 (NKJV)
18:20 “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
21 “But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22 None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. 23 Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
24 “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.
25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? 26 When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. 27 Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. 28 Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.”
Devotion
Our human assumptions about fairness and accountability are not the same as God’s standard of fairness and accountability. Our assumptions are corrupted by the sin that is in our hearts. We want to bend the rules or ‘move the goalposts’ according to our perspective. Whereas, God makes His established divine perspective clear.
God calls us to repent and be humble because we have failed and we have sinned. Faithful humility says, “Lord, I am wrong; You are right. Have mercy on me and help my unbelief!” The penitential seasons of the Church are a blessing because they help us remember to focus on this humility and discipline that makes us sincerely bow to God’s holiness.
Satan always tempts us to say, “God is not fair!” Or to say, “I am a son (or daughter) of God, therefore I am always right and no one can correct me or judge me.” The devil never stops encouraging us to doubt what God really said. Our Lord says, “The soul who sins shall die.” But He also calls us to repent and trust in His grace and forgiveness. The soul who turns and does what is right and faithful—namely, repent and believe in the Christ—that soul shall live!
Collect: O Lord, be gracious to Thy people, and as Thou makest them devoted to Thee, in Thy mercy comfort them with Thy kind assistance; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for Invocavit Sunday
O Lord, mercifully hear our prayer, and stretch forth the right hand of Thy Majesty to defend us from them that rise up against us; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for the Season of Lent
Almighty and Everlasting God, Who hatest nothing that Thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of Thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
