Today's Scripture
Somber Optimism – Joel 2:12-17
12 Yet even now, says the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13 rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
and relents from punishing.
14 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?
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sanctify a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
16 gather the people.
Sanctify the congregation;
assemble the aged;
gather the children,
even infants at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her canopy.
17 Between the vestibule and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep.
Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and do not make your heritage a mockery,
a byword among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
RJ's Devotion
What the passage says
V. 12-13 What God wants is our heart, not sack cloths and mere fasting.
V. 13-14 God is a God of grace and steadfast love. We are to rely upon that steadfast love and turn our hearts to the Lord.
V. 15-16 The prophet Joel calls all people to gather in the presence of the Lord, to experience God’s love.
V. 17 The priest are to become the ‘bridge builders’ between God and the people when they come to the Lord with a heart of repentance.
What does the passage say to me/us?
Why does God call us to fast? It is to prepare ourselves to experience and encounter God’s everlasting love.
Although fasting is an excellent way to prepare our hearts for the Lord, if we do not intentionally turn our heart away from the world and focus on God, we might be undergoing this practice in vain. God wants our heart. God wants our lives to be turned back and focused to our Lord.
When we come to God with a heart of repentance, we know that God’s everlasting love will encounter us. We do not need a priest to intercede for us. We have our high priest, who paid the ultimate sacrifice to become the bridge between God and people.
“In Him and through faith in Him we may enter God’s presence with boldness and confidence.” Ephesian 3:12
May we use this season of Lent, to come closer to the presence of God, relying on the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ.
Prayer
Dear Lord, help us prepare our hearts, during the season of Lent. Sanctify our heart and our lives. May we experience your everlasting love and encounter you.
In Christ name, we pray, AMEN
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