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Cross of Ashes
by Christine Weerts
Lenten Devotions for 2005
© 2005 Int'l LLL
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Introduction
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let
us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for
our "God is a consuming fire."
- Hebrews 12:28-29
I was at home reading one quiet spring evening when I heard the
too-familiar wail, starting with a low moan and rising up the scale into a
blare: the siren calling volunteer firefighters. Immediately I prayed that
no one would be hurt in the fire that was surely striking a home in our
part of town.
We lived in the poor section of a small Southern community. Every
family we knew—over 70 we lived and worked with each day—had been
touched by fire at some time in their lives. In my childhood suburban
neighborhood in the Midwest, I never knew anyone whose house had burned.
Yet here fires were part of life. It was disheartening that so many who
had so little lost everything in the all-too-common fire. It was the face
of poverty, substandard housing with bad wiring. Despite the violence
fires wreaked in our community, people always reacted the same: "We
are so thankful no one was hurt. Things are not so important."
This is a key message for Lent—to hold lightly the things of the
world. We ask God, our consuming fire, to burn off the dross—those
things that get in the way of our spiritual growth—and to send the Holy
Spirit to deepen our commitment to Him. May the ashes we wear this season
come from God's fire, burning away sin through Jesus Christ's holy
sacrifice, and creating in its place a burning passion for our loving
Lord.
Christine Weerts
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