Lent Devotion | Day 1 (Ash Wednesday)
"Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
The prophet, Joel, describes in the first two chapters the disasters he sees taking place in the Land of Israel as a result of God’s people worshipping other gods and violating their covenant with him.
In chapter 2, verse 12, we find incredible hope through the loving invitation from God to return to him. The type of returning God describes invites us to give him our hearts, our emotions and even our bodies through fasting. God sees our own sin, rebellion, and all that we desperately try to keep hidden which draws us away from him. Yet, he still says to each of us, “even now, return to me.” These words also remind us of the grace and forgiveness God offers us in Christ, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
How will you respond to God’s loving invitation to return to him?
