Our church season of Lent will begin this year on February 17 when we mark Ash Wednesday. In the Bible, people put ashes on their heads to convey distress or deep grief. As Christians, we do it on the first day of Lent to lament what we can’t control: that sin still has a deep hold on us, and that one day, we will die. In naming these hard truths, we make room for God to step into our lives,
“In returning and rest, you shall be saved. In quietness and trust shall be your strength.”
Isaiah 30:15
The word “tithe” comes from an ancient custom of giving a tenth of one’s yearly income to some holy use. The tithe doesn’t come from what’s left over after all the bills have been paid, but is taken right off the top, before anything else.
There is no reversing this road. The path that bore you here goes in one direction only, every step drawing you down a way by which you will not return.
You thought arrival was everything, that your entire journey ended with kneeling in the place you had spent all to find.
When you laid down your gift, release came with such ease, your treasure tumbling from your hands in awe and benediction.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.”
Have you been looking for any answers lately? I think a lot of us are looking for answers, because while life seemed relatively simple when we were young, it certainly doesn’t seem to be “simple” any longer.
There probably was a time when our primary concern in December was whether or not we would get what we wanted for Christmas.
The familiar words of Ecclesiastes 3 remind us that “to everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. A time for …” and a lot of different, in fact opposite things follow, but today I am adding one: A Time for Encouragement. In chapter 10, the writer of Hebrews thought that encouragement was important. “23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.