02/21/2007

21 February 2007
Ash Wednesday
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says,
"At an acceptable time I have listened to you,and on a day of salvation I have helped you."
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see-- we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

For now is the acceptable time; Lent has begun. We are being called to a holy life now, today, right here, right now! Lent is a time away from the world and all the hubbub and noise that overfills our days. In this season we strip away the accumulated debris of the year, of all the years. We have the gifts of endurance, knowledge, and kindness--how can I use them today for the benefit of someone else? We benefit from genuine love and are alive with God's spirit--let me trust in the power of God to succeed! Commit today to 40 days of trying to pray with renewed vigor. Take up some new discipline or "give up" some old stumbling block in order to grasp the real life of the Spirit. Look inward now to faith and live with outward confidence and purpose. My earthly life is a precious gift lent to me to share wisely; now is the appointed time! bds