“Rend your heart, and not your garments.” Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful.

Joel 2:13

When Lent begins, everything stops as we focus on Jesus Christ, the crucified One, who shed his precious blood for all sin. On Ash Wednesday we receive ashes on our forehead to call us to repent of our sin; both the external sin and that which resides in the heart as well. Jesus says, out of the heart come all wickedness, idolatry, lust, and covetousness (Matthew 15:19).

The older I get, the more I recognize how my heart is often far from him. What defiles us most is not only our failures to thank, praise, serve, and obey him, but our entire inner condition. Thanks be to God, that we can repent and sing with King David, “Create in me a clean heart, O, God.”

Timothy Puls
Fort Wayne, IN

Dear Lord, create in me a clean heart, O, God, and renew a right spirit within me. In Jesus name. Amen.

Reflect: As you receive Holy Communion today, take heart that your sins are forgiven.

Read: Psalm 51 and Joel 2:12-17