First Day of Lent, Ash Wednesday
Posted on March 2, 2022 by under
Scripture: Joel 2:12-19 (NKJV)
2:12 “Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
13 So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.
14 Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him—a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly;
16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, and the bride from her dressing room.
17 Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
18 Then the Lord will be zealous for His land, and pity His people.
19 The Lord will answer and say to His people, “Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, and you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.
Devotion
What makes Ash Wednesday so special? Aren’t we to confess our sins every day? Isn’t that the lasting effect of Holy Baptism, in that the Holy Spirit brings us daily repentance? So why do we even need Ash Wednesday? The Divine Service and the historic liturgy of the Church help us understand the significance of Ash Wednesday.
When we think of the Church year, what usually stands out are those special days like Christmas and Easter. But when one really looks at every Divine Service one sees the totality of Christ and His work. The Divine Service is about the entire Christ, from the promise made in the Garden of Eden to the promise of Christ’s return at the end of time. Every Sunday is all about Christ and about His all. The difference from Sunday to Sunday and other special days on the Church calendar is simply a matter of emphasis, which takes us back to Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is that special time to heighten our awareness of our need for repentance, our need to turn from our sinful ways to our God who is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.”
Prayer: 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 the 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.
