Ash Wednesday -- A Few Words

On this Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, the season during which many Christians consider how they might grow closer to Jesus – I am glad God is not the same today as He was in earlier days.

Let me tell you why I am glad. I just read this morning this text in Jeremiah: “Behold, you are trusting in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known, then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—that you may do all these abominations? (Jeremiah 7:8-10)

And that reminded me of another Old Testament prophet, Habakkuk. For the first two and a half chapters of that short book, God let him know heaven’s wrath was coming because of the nation’s adulteries and fornications and child sacrifices and their religious blasphemies. And so, Habakkuk mourned aloud: “I heard and my inward parts trembled, at the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, and in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress . . . “ (Habakkuk 3:16)

God says the same things through Isaiah. And Ezekiel. And Amos. And Joel. And . . . .

Do you see why I am glad God is not the same today as He was then? For if He is, then America is in desperate danger.

And if He is the same today as He has ALWAYS been, then why do so many Christians in the pews and in the pulpits expect God’s blessings on America when we do as much evil as did ancient Israel? The murders of 62 million unborn babies cry to God louder than the blood of Abel, killed by his brother Cain. Our sexual perversions and immoralities, promoted from the highest courts and political offices of our land, compete with Sodom and Gomorrah for disgrace. Our blasphemies against God and His people are as vocal and as evil as that of the Baal worshipers in Judah and Israel back in the day.

We expect God to hear our national and individual prayers for healing and health and safety when we live and work and vote as so many Christians in the pews and the pulpits do?

Yes, I am glad God is not the same today as He was then.

BUT, if He IS the same today as He was then, we had better change our lives while there is still time to do so. If He IS the same today as He was then, then Ash Wednesday is a good day to not only receive ashes on our forehead as a sign of our fleeting mortality, but it’s a good day to also roll in ashes as a sign of our mourning – and our repentance – for our sins.