📖 Joel 2:12-19: The OT Reading for Ash Wednesday
Ever feel like it’s too late to make things right? ⏰
📚 The book of Joel, one of the shorter prophetic books in the Old Testament, brings a powerful message of hope on Ash Wednesday that speaks directly to this.
🗣️ “Yet even now,” God declares through Joel, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”
🎭 This isn’t about putting on a show. God wants us to rend our hearts, not just our garments.
🔄 He’s inviting us to turn away from sin and embrace His steadfast love.
❓ Why should we return?
❤️ Because our God is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”
🙏 He doesn’t want anyone to perish in their sins.
✨ Instead, He wants everyone to come to know His truth and receive His forgiveness.
✝️ That’s why He sent Christ, who took on human flesh and died on the cross for you.
👪 The call extends to everyone — elders, children, and even nursing infants.
⛪ The entire congregation is invited to gather in a solemn assembly, to fast and pray together.
🤗 No one is excluded from God’s invitation to return.
⚖️ You might be carrying the weight of past actions, and yes, some earthly consequences might remain.
💫 But here’s the amazing truth: it’s never too late to return to God.
🩸 The same Lord whose garments were torn and whose blood was shed on the cross is waiting with open arms to receive you.
💝 He loved you so much that He took your sins upon Himself to give you everlasting life.
⏳ So don’t hesitate.
🏃♂️ Return to your Lord who loves you beyond measure.
🌅 His mercy is new every morning, and His love for you is steadfast and unchanging.
Contributor Merritt Demski is the Pastor at St. John’s in Alta, Iowa.
#higherthings #lcms #lutheran #ashwednesday
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