
Friday, March 4
REPENT by Amy Sanders
REPENT by Amy Sanders
Matthew 3:1-12
In those days John the Baptist appeared in the desert of Judea announcing, “Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!” He was the one of whom Isaiah the prophet spoke when he said:
The voice of one shouting in the wilderness,
“Prepare the way for the Lord;
Make his paths straight.”
John wore clothes made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey.
People from Jerusalem, throughout Judea, and all around the Jordan River came to him. As they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. Many Pharisees and Sadducees came to be baptized by John. He said to them, “You children of snakes! Who warned you to escape from the angry judgment that is coming soon? Produce fruit that shows you have changed your hearts and lives. And don’t even think about saying to yourselves, Abraham is our father. I tell you that God is able to raise up Abraham’s children from these stones. The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be chopped down and tossed into the fire. I baptize with water those of you who have changed your hearts and lives. The one who is coming after me is stronger than I am. I’m not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The shovel he uses to sift the wheat from the husks is in his hands. He will clean out his threshing area and bring the wheat into his barn. But he will burn the husks with a fire that can’t be put out.”
Reflection
John the Baptist was a weird dude. He wore camel hair shirts (that can’t be comfortable, right?), ate bugs (ew), and his sole purpose in life seems to be shouting at people to change their ways or they’ll burn forever (sounds like a fun guy!). And all that shouting wasn’t to call attention to himself, instead, he served as an ancient-times equivalent to a hype man for Jesus. While I’m sure some people in Judea disregarded his warning to repent, I doubt many people could ignore all that “shouting in the wilderness”. He certainly got their attention.
In our modern lives, we are bombarded by so many voices shouting at us (thanks, social media!). The unfortunate truth is that it seems to take a LOT to get our attention. The voices that catch and hold our attention are the loudest, the most outrageous, and the most sensational. Amongst all the shouting, it can be easy to tune out the quieter voices, the voices that nudge us, the voices that challenge the status quo, and the voices that call us to repent.
Question for Contemplation
As you sift through all the “noise” of your daily life (and especially in your social media feeds), which voices are you paying attention to?
Prayer
God, the world is a noisy place with many voices shouting at us in the wilderness. We thank you for sending John the Baptist and other voices that call our attention to how far we’ve strayed from your path and call us to repent. And we especially thank you for sending Jesus. Help us do the hard work of turning away from those paths and turning back to you. Amen
In those days John the Baptist appeared in the desert of Judea announcing, “Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!” He was the one of whom Isaiah the prophet spoke when he said:
The voice of one shouting in the wilderness,
“Prepare the way for the Lord;
Make his paths straight.”
John wore clothes made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey.
People from Jerusalem, throughout Judea, and all around the Jordan River came to him. As they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. Many Pharisees and Sadducees came to be baptized by John. He said to them, “You children of snakes! Who warned you to escape from the angry judgment that is coming soon? Produce fruit that shows you have changed your hearts and lives. And don’t even think about saying to yourselves, Abraham is our father. I tell you that God is able to raise up Abraham’s children from these stones. The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be chopped down and tossed into the fire. I baptize with water those of you who have changed your hearts and lives. The one who is coming after me is stronger than I am. I’m not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The shovel he uses to sift the wheat from the husks is in his hands. He will clean out his threshing area and bring the wheat into his barn. But he will burn the husks with a fire that can’t be put out.”
Reflection
John the Baptist was a weird dude. He wore camel hair shirts (that can’t be comfortable, right?), ate bugs (ew), and his sole purpose in life seems to be shouting at people to change their ways or they’ll burn forever (sounds like a fun guy!). And all that shouting wasn’t to call attention to himself, instead, he served as an ancient-times equivalent to a hype man for Jesus. While I’m sure some people in Judea disregarded his warning to repent, I doubt many people could ignore all that “shouting in the wilderness”. He certainly got their attention.
In our modern lives, we are bombarded by so many voices shouting at us (thanks, social media!). The unfortunate truth is that it seems to take a LOT to get our attention. The voices that catch and hold our attention are the loudest, the most outrageous, and the most sensational. Amongst all the shouting, it can be easy to tune out the quieter voices, the voices that nudge us, the voices that challenge the status quo, and the voices that call us to repent.
Question for Contemplation
As you sift through all the “noise” of your daily life (and especially in your social media feeds), which voices are you paying attention to?
Prayer
God, the world is a noisy place with many voices shouting at us in the wilderness. We thank you for sending John the Baptist and other voices that call our attention to how far we’ve strayed from your path and call us to repent. And we especially thank you for sending Jesus. Help us do the hard work of turning away from those paths and turning back to you. Amen
Posted in Lent Devotional 2022
Recent
Archive
2023
January
February
Explore - Week 1Explore - Week 2Explore - Week 3Explore - Week 4God is Leading Us Forward // M-Note 2.3.23SENT: Week 1 Discussion GuideSomething To Try This Weekend // M-Note 2.10.23SENT: Week 2 Discussion GuideWe're Doing Something Big! // M-Note 2.17.23SENT: Week 3 Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 1Lent Devotional Day 2Lent Devotional Day 3SENT: Week 4 Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 4Lent Devotional Day 5Lent Devotional Day 6Lent Devotional Day 7
March
Lent Devotional Day 8Lent Devotional Day 9Celebrating BEYOND // M-Note 3.3.2023Who Is Jesus: BONUS Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 10Lent Devotional Day 11Lent Devotional Day 12Who Is Jesus: Week 1 Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 13Lent Devotional Day 14Lent Devotional Day 15Lent Devotional Day 16Lent Devotional Day 17The Evening Service is BACK!!! // M-Note 3.10.23Lent Devotional Day 18Lent Devotional Day 19Who Is Jesus: Week 2 Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 20Lent Devotional Day 21Lent Devotional Day 22Lent Devotional Day 23The Most Important Sunday of the Year // M-Note 3.17.23Who Is Jesus: Week 3 Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 24Lent Devotional Day 25Lent Devotional Day 26Lent Devotional Day 27Lent Devotional Day 28Lent Devotional Day 29Lent Devotional Day 30The Power of Easter and Invitation // M-Note 3.24.23Lent Devotional Day 31Who Is Jesus: Week 4 Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 32Lent Devotional Day 33Lent Devotional Day 34Lent Devotional Day 35Lent Devotional Day 36Lent Devotional Day 37You Can't Miss This Part // M-Note 4.1.23Lent Devotional Day 38
April
Lent Devotional Day 39Lent Devotional Day 40Who Is Jesus: Week 5 Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 41Lent Devotional Day 42Lent Devotional Day 43Gathering Easter Top 10 List // M-Note 4.6.23Lent Devotional Day 44Lent Devotional Day 45Easter Sunday: Discussion GuideLent Devotional Day 46Feeling Burned Out? // M-Note 4.14.23Burnout: Week 1 Discussion GuideBurnout: Week 2 Discussion GuideIntersection of Policies & Prayers // M-Note 4.22.23Do More Of This To Avoid Burnout // M-Note 4.28.23Burnout: Week 3 Discussion Guide
May
Categories
Tags
1 Kings 3
1 Kings
1 Timothy
2 Corinthians 9:5-7
2 Timothy
Belden Lane
Beyond Simple
Celebrate
Change
Christ
Commit
Confidence
Denee Bowers
Devotional
Discussion Guides
Distractions
Divine Love
Doubt
Easter
Ephesians
Equity
Evangelism
Explore
Five Shared Practices
Focus
Frederick Buechner
Fresh Take
Friends
Generosity
God
Gratitude
Hebrews
Holy Ambiguity
Hope
Humanity
Identity
Isaiah
Jesus
John 21
John
Joy
Kids
King Solomon
Lectio Divina
Lent
Life
Limitations
Longing
M-Note
Matt Miofsky
Matthew
Nadia Bolz-Weber
No Filter
Open
Parables
Parenting
Patience
Paula D'Arcy
Paula D\'Arcy
Paula D\\\'Arcy
Paula D\\\\\\\'Arcy
Paul
Privilege
Proverbs 1
Proverbs
Psalms
Purpose
Questions
Redeem
Rejoice
Righteousness
Sabra Engelbrecht
Second Chance
Self-Love
Struggle
Success
The Bible
The Church
The Gathering
Timothy
Uncertainty
Untethered
Vision
Weird
acts
adulting
advice
challenge
commitment
creation
deconstruction
deconstruct
faith
finances
fitness
forgiveness
forgiving
foundation
freedom
give
growth
kelley weber
love
meister eckhart
money
mystery
new life
opportunity
reconstruction
reconstruct
redemption
relationships
responsibility
simplify
sin
social
thomas merton
transition
truth
willingness
willpower
will
young adult
No Comments