Joel 2:12-13 - Return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment.
Thoughts: My post from yesterday spoke of my struggles with temptations. It even led to a fall to sin. It didn't seem like a big thing but yet it was a fall. It saddened me because I know it saddened God. The grace of God is fabulous though. As it says in the reading, "For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment. Very unlike us.
Most of walk around all the time with a chip on our shoulder. With a hair trigger on our tempers. We get angry or jealous at the slightest perceived infraction against us. Sometimes even when it is not against us. Are we forgiving? In today's Gospel from Matthew 18, Jesus tells his apostles that they must forgive not just 7 times, which was unthinkable back then but 70 times 7. Basically, forever and always.
Jesus really wants us to just give our hearts to him. We can do that through our self denial. Through our fasting, weeping and mourning. He is just waiting to welcome us back but we have to take the first step and practice forgiveness, self denial, and quiet time in the presence of the Lord.
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