Wednesday of Ember Week in Lent
Posted on February 21, 2024 by under
Scripture: Genesis 2:8-17 (NKJV)
2:8 The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Devotion
Lent’s Ember Days encourage our prayer for those engaged in Adam’s original work of praise: the harvesting and care of what God provides. Adam’s sin made the work more difficult, complicated, and uncertain, so such prayers are a necessary confession of the Creed’s First Article and the Our Father’s Fourth Petition. We pray for farmers and ranchers, but also for the makers of the tools and products they use, those who deliver, process, and market what they grow (and those who inspect and regulate). We also pray that we would receive our daily bread with such thanksgiving as seeks to bless those whose access to nourishment is made difficult. Thus, in our diocese we remember to set aside offerings to support those who labor in the Kingdom where there may be no pay to sustain them or the people they serve in Christ—those serving missions listed in these pages each month.
When God placed Adam in the garden “to tend and keep it,” the only command Moses mentions sets aside one tree (out of trillions) that Adam might confess a right understanding of his blessed position. Eating from all but one was no more burdensome than resting body and soul on the Sabbath by hearing God’s Word. Yet, the tempter leads Eve and her husband to view such acknowledgment of the Giver as if it negated the giving! Likewise, we face this season of penitence because sin leads us to lack in treasuring and caring for the Lord’s gifts.
Collect: 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 Wednesday of Ember Week in Lent
Mercifully hear our prayers, we beseech Thee, O Lord, and stretch forth the right hand of Thy Majesty against all our enemies, 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 those 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.
