March 10 Day 4
Joel 2:12-14
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?”
REFLECTION
“…rend your hearts and not your garments”. Men and women find it easy to alter our outward appearance, but our broken nature makes it very difficult to change our inward selves. We are masters of disguise, swapping masks to suit our surroundings and the company we are in. God has no interest in our play-acting…but is deeply concerned with our true nature, which is easily concealed for people but utterly visible to our Creator.
Jesus accused the Pharisees of this sort of hypocrisy: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.” Lent is a wonderful time for us to open our personal tomb and inspect the inside. Are we as beautiful inside as we struggle to appear on the outside? Do we go through the motions of religious faith yet lack any true commitment to Jesus teachings?
The amazing thing is that God is waiting for us to return to the flock…where the Holy Spirit is waiting to sweep out of the old bones and corruption of death from our hearts and set up a throne for Jesus to rule from. This is God’s grace, and mercy, and kindness. And when God has filled our lives with blessings they will overflow to those around us…and the earth will be a little more like the kingdom of heaven.
PRAYER: Lord, we come to in faith, believing that only you can remove the stench of death and the stain of sin from our hearts. We do not seek to negotiate for our healing, but fall limply into your arms, trusting in you alone. You see us fast in secret, mourn in loneliness, and know our broken hearts. Make us holy, as you are holy. AMEN
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