Preparing To Meet God

Preparing To Meet God  |  Genesis 35:1-5  |  Pastor Aaron Robinson

Today we begin our Lenten journey by participating in Ash Wednesday.  Lent is the 40 days that precedes resurrection Sunday on the liturgical calendar.  During the season of lent, we prepare for our own personal resurrection while celebrating the victory found in the resurrection of Christ. This season of us participating in ritual and rites, help better us as individuals and community. Some of the key elements of this season are devotion, discipline and deliverance. We devote ourselves to God's will and purpose for our lives; while fasting helps create a discipline in us and Resurrection Sunday reminds us of the deliverance provided to us.

Our scripture reading comes from a period in Jacob’s life where he is reminded to return to God. Jacob is instructed to go to Bethel which means House of God during a traumatic time period in his life and the life of his family. He was instructed 20 years prior that he would return to Bethel but Jacob has forgotten those instructions.  God gives Jacob 3 directives before proceeding to Bethel. Jacob is told to rid himself and those with him of foreign gods; Purify himself and all that is with him and have all to change clothes. I truly believe that this text is applicable to us as we start our Lenten journey. Before resurrection can truly happen in our lives there are some things that we must do. Each of us must put aside the false gods, purify ourselves of the sin that surrounds and seeks to overtake us and change from ungodly our behavior.

In the text Jacob and his family are told to put aside the foreign gods.  During the season of lent we need to get rid of all of the little g's in our lives.   We would never call them gods but we worship them. The little gods are all of those things that distract us from giving our all to God or hinder us from being all that God created us to be. One of the main reasons we fast during the Lenten season is to help us rid ourselves of the little things we worship.

The next thing we must do is purify ourselves of sin around us and in us. The Lenten season is a time of repentance and forgiveness. During this season we should be reflecting on how we've gotten in God's way with our negative actions.  There are countless ways that we get in the way of God, it is up to us wash ourselves of those things.
 
This 40-day journey is about us changing. We should not be the same person at the end of this journey. We should be reflections of Christ on the other side of Easter. The people in the text are told to change clothes which is symbolic of starting a new. When we change clothes, we are taking off what is soiled and putting on something fresh. As we move on our Lenten journey let us replace what we were wearing with what God desires for us to wear.  Let us take off the anger and replace it with a joy. Let us remove the hate then put on love.

As we start this journey together let us prepare to meet God on Resurrection Sunday. Let this Lent be different then all of the other Lenten seasons. God is telling us to get ready because God is about to do something new with each and every one of us. So let us prepare for Resurrection over the next 40 days.

Prayer: Most gracious and merciful God walk with me as I take this journey toward resurrection Sunday.  Lord help me to get rid of all of the gods that are trying to trap me; purify me and change me so I might be better used by thee. Amen!