DAILY LENTEN DEVOTIONS 2019
Friends,
This Wednesday we will begin our daily devotions through Lent. The scripture for the day will be posted followed by my personal comments about the verses. You are urged to add your own to share with others. This has been a meaningful and enriching practice for many years at our church. I hope you will offer your wisdom this Lenten Season.
Peace, Keith
Ash Wednesday, March 6: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Jesus said, “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
REFLECTIONS
From a pastor’s perspective this is not a helpful Ash Wednesday service reading— for the best way to live it out is to stay home and pray. Being seen at the service announces our piety to the church members and the ashes on our head announces it to strangers. But if we read the verses in private or even in a public setting, the passage reminds us to do something for ourselves alone this season with God. Good advice for the beginning of Lent. Peace, Keith Sundberg
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