Broadcast
Repent - Part 1
Joel 2:12-13
02/12/2024
12 Yet even now, declares the LORD, return to me with
all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and
with mourning;
13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.
Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious
and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in
steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.
(ESV)
Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, forty days, plus
Sundays, which bring us to Easter. The Church uses this time to
reflect on our sin, to repent, and to prepare for our Lord's
crucifixion on Good Friday. Our sins, our transgressions, our
selfish nature put Him on the cross. Jesus' death and
resurrection are our life.
Joel, the prophet, is one of the men sent by God to call the
children of Israel to repent and return to God. He wrote:
Yet even now, declares the LORD, return to me with all
your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with
mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.
Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and
merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast
love; and he relents over disaster.
The nations of Judah and Israel had forgotten God, and had
gone after worthless idols. Although God had preserved them in
Egypt, and later under David and Solomon, both the leaders and
people rejected the news of God's love. Today we find the same
sin in this nation, where we have forgotten God's rich blessings,
where everything but the good news of salvation by grace through
faith for the sake of Christ is proclaimed.
May our Lord grant that we heed His call to repent, to
return to Him, for our everlasting blessing. Amen.