The Grace of Repentance

 

What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also, that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man. I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. (Ecclesiastes 3:9-14 ESV).

 

Lent usually begins with what the church has called Ash Wednesday. Lent should be a season of reflection and repentance leading up to Resurrection Sunday (Easter). In some church traditions a mark of ashes is placed on a person’s forehead, as a reminder of sin and of Christ’s sacrifice to save us. In the Old Testament, people put on sackcloth and ashes as a sign of mourning, often because of their sins. They recognized that their sins grieved their Lord and God.

 

Similarly, people would be anointed with oil as a sign of repentance. This was not a signal of mourning. Being anointed with oil was a sign of favor and holiness, a calling that God had in mind for you. This was an outward sign of an inner reality. If you or your children have been baptized, the symbolism is similar. Baptism marks us as God’s covenant children, called to be part of his family. The water symbolizes the washing away of sin and the rising to new life we receive in Christ.

 

In the days and weeks to come, it is a great time to reflect on your journey. There is no better time than now to confess your sins and to begin to strive toward holiness. This is an outcome of the reflection of the journey of Christ to the cross. It is a time to mourn our shaky obedience. But it is also a time to rejoice. We take comfort and joy in the fact that Christ’s sacrifice for us paid the penalty for our sin. We can go forward in calm, delightful assurance that Jesus’ anointing becomes ours, with the promise of new life with God forever!