This year I
actually began thinking about Lent far enough in advance to do a little
research and commit to observing it. I found a 40-day scripture reading plan,
each day containing Psalms, Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel. The theme for
today (in my head) is Sin, more specifically confession of sin.
Today’s
reading begins with Psalm 95, urging us into God’s presence with songs and
shouts of praise, for He is the Creator. How appropriate is this? Unless we see
God as our Creator and King to whom we owe our lives and allegiance and fealty,
we will never see our sin for the perverse thing it is. The readings continue
with Psalm 32, in which we are promised forgiveness if we will confess our
sins. What, then, holds us back? We are assured
forgiveness and restoration, why do we hesitate? Psalm 143 then is a plea for
God to save us from pursuing enemies. What enemy is more destructive than our
sin? He promises to destroy our enemy
for the sake of His great name, which is such an overwhelming comfort, because
nothing we do can keep Him from fulfilling this promise.
The Old
Testament reading comes from Jonah 3 and 4 and tells us of God sparing Ninevah
because they repent in ashes and tears. I was struck for the first time by God’s
words to Jonah in 4:10, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor
did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night.”
God labors over us, makes us grow, gives us life. His stake in us is great, He
will save us.
In Hebrews
12:1-14 we learn that self-discipline is a necessity in doing battle against
sin and becoming holy, as we are called to do. I struggle epically with this.
Well, maybe not so epically, since I always give in fairly quickly. The author
uses the analogy of a race, “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so
closely,” he says. What runner lets any extra weight remain on his body during a
race? That’s crazy.
In Luke
18:9-14 we read the story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector going to pray
in the temple. Luke says that Jesus told this parable to “some who trusted in
themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt.” The
moral of the story is Humility. We are truly nothing more than ashes while we
remain in our sin, and we need to approach God in this attitude, though
perfectly, completely trusting in His grace, which He promises us in advance.
Lent isn't
supposed to drive us to despair, it is supposed to drive us to Christ.
Interspersed with days of fasting and abstinence and tears are six days in
which we celebrate our risen Lord, the One who makes our salvation possible.
Take heart, Christian, the cross will take your sin and the tomb will be empty.
