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Happy March to All God’s People!
2024 is a leap year and brings with it an additional day in February, which seems to only mean the winter season was extended one more day on the calendar. We truly are at the threshold of spring. March, however, is a busy month with Holy week and Easter coming at the end of the month. With this month being the majority of our Lenten season, the verse chosen for the pastor’s note seems appropriate.
I was asked recently if the Bible says anything about ashes. So, I thought I would share the only two verses in Scripture which talk about ashes. Job 42:6 and Matt 11:21 are two locations where you can read what it says.
The verse I want to take a closer look at is the one from Job. Job 42:6, “Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” It’s pretty short and sweet, but I think it also speaks volumes about Job and where he was in this extreme time of trial.
Job did not ask to be in this most disparaging point in his life. However, here he was trying to comprehend how he wound up here in this horrific suffering along with such great loss. He knew he wasn’t perfect yet his love for his God was rock solid.
Maybe you remember the story and how his friends continued telling him God was punishing him for either the sins of his family or for a sin he himself couldn’t remember. It tormented Job and his friends tried diligently to bring comfort to him. Yet, they did not know the God of all creation like Job did. He confronts God begging for an opportunity to confront his accuser and tormentor. Job asks God to help him know his sins, so he can come clean and repent. He despises himself, and he knows he must find forgiveness in order to find peace and be made whole in the presence of God again.
What about us? Do we have the heart of Job? Do we confront God and beg Him to help us know our sins? Repentance is the only way to find true peace and restore us to a right relationship with our God.
We can be confident the Lord God knows exactly who and what we are. He knows exactly where we are and He knows all about our hurting because it makes Him hurt for us. Will our sin knock us down to the point of Job where we can’t live our lives without despising ourselves? Don’t wait to be driven to the lowest of lows. Don’t wait another week or day or even hours to pour out your heart to God and seek His mercy and grace. Seek to be made whole and righteous in the eyes of our Creator God.
Blessings for your journey through Lent,
Pastor Kathi