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Lent Devotions: Day 42
Love and Forgiveness
Read: Luke 23:32-37
Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing. (v. 34)
Like all children, I knocked my head, tripped and fell, and crashed my bike more than a few times. I remember the pain of those times. But real physical torture is not something that I can honestly relate to. It is difficult to entirely understand the suffering and physical anguish Jesus endured in the last 24 hours of his life on earth. He was beaten, spat on, flogged and crucified.
Yet even in this torturous punishment Jesus cried out to God, not in anger or resentment, but on behalf of his persecutors. “Forgive them,” he asked, “for they do not know what they are doing.” Jesus had at his disposal the power of God and legions of angels to swoop to his aid (Matthew 26:53). However, instead of taking revenge on his killers, Jesus prayed for them.
The previous night Jesus had spoken to his disciples of this kind of love, saying, “Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (John 13:34). On the cross he demonstrated the full extent of his love.
Jesus prayed for the forgiveness of those who tortured him. How difficult is it for us to forgive those who have wronged us? May we follow his example more completely. –Jonathon VanderWall
Prayer: Lord, help us to love one another as you have loved us.
Lent Devotions: Day 41
The Good Shepherd
Read: John 10:1-21; 19:16-27
Woman, here is your son. (19:26)
The story of the death of Jesus is not peaceful or calm. He went from Pilate to Herod and back again. He was tortured and then mocked as he was led to the place of his crucifixion and death. Yet, even in the chaos and suffering Jesus remembered his mother. As his world crumbled, he provided for his mother a second son, a further support, in the disciple John.
In this Holy Week, we remember the death of Jesus and the events leading up to it. This is a week of strong emotions. We may feel moved by stories of Christ’s righteous anger in the temple or Peter’s denial. Worship services are often somber, because we focus on the suffering that Jesus endured on our behalf.
However, as he did for Mary, Jesus also speaks words of comfort and assurance to us. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). His words are a comfort to us. Jesus, our Lord and Savior, is our shepherd and he will provide for us. He guides us through the darkest valleys, protecting and comforting us, restoring our soul. In this week of remembrance, may Jesus, the good shepherd, be our comfort and guide as we navigate the valley of the shadow of death. May we know that our Lord walks with us every step of the way. –Jonathon VanderWall
Prayer: Lord, may we know your comfort and provision as you guide us through all the days of our lives.
Lent Devotions: Day 40
Prepare the Way
Day 40
Read: Psalm 118:21-29, Luke 11:1-11
Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar. (Psalm 118:27)
Our lives are cluttered, but it’s not fitting to leave our souls a mess for God. His presence calls us to prepare a place suitable for him. Chaotic schedules hinder God’s movement in our lives. If he is always bumping up against piano lessons and late nights at the office and back-to-back social events, we haven’t given him the space he deserves. We need to prepare a place fit for him.
Today, on Palm Sunday, we prepare the way for the Lord. We do not make the way–only God makes the way– but we prepare it. We clear our lives of the debris that has collected, do a thorough cleaning, and make the way fit for a king. We give God space to move and to act in our lives. Like the psalmist, we make these preparations in gratitude for the things God has done, especially for his faithfulness to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus, which we rehearse during the coming week.
Our preparations include not only recounting God’s steadfast love and making space for God’s work, but also offering ourselves to him. We take the meager things we have–cloaks and branches–and make them part of our sacrifice to the Lord by spreading them before him. With those things no longer cluttering our lives, we are freer to follow him. –Grace Claus
Prayer: Blessed Lord, we’re preparing the way. Come in, come in.
Lent Devotions: Day 39
Active and Diligent Waiting
Read: 2 Peter 3:11-18
Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace. (v. 14)
Waiting is a passive verb. Growing up, being told to “wait patiently” meant that I should stop fidgeting or fussing and sit quietly. How boring! Time slows down in situations like that and it is hard work to wait, especially for kids.
By contrast, waiting on the Lord is an active verb. Like a host waiting for guests to arrive, there is much to be done to get ready. The church in Peter’s day was eagerly anticipating the return of Christ. After years of waiting, Jesus had not yet returned. Some people gave up. They followed false teachers who said that Jesus would never come back, and they fell into sin. Others waited patiently but passively, withdrawing from society and expecting Jesus to come and take them out of this world. In the face of these two options, Peter called the church to active waiting–to live preparing for Christ’s return. Peter asks, “What sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness?” (v. 11)
Lent is a season of waiting and anticipation. We wait for Easter and the resurrection, but we ultimately long for Christ’s return. During Lent we walk diligently down the road of discipleship. We love and worship God, care for our neighbor, and humbly serve in the world God has made. How will you actively wait for Christ today? –Stephen Shaffer
Prayer: Lord, help me to be diligent in waiting for you.
Lent Devotions: Day 38
Read: 2 Peter 3:1-10
Not So Fast
The Lord is not slow about his promise. (v. 9)
Punctuality is a Western virtue. Have you heard the mantra of time management gurus? “If you are not five minutes early, you are late.” We set deadlines and due dates and often manage our calendars down to the last minute hoping to squeeze every moment of productivity out of the day. Time is a commodity to be spent well, and wasting it is a sin. Punctuality is prized, and patience is often in short supply.
God exists outside of time and does not operate on our schedule. The early church in Peter’s day was eagerly awaiting the imminent return of Christ. When Christ had ascended, he promised to return and the church lived in anticipation of that event. Yet, Jesus was taking his time. Days and years went by and Christ had not returned. People became impatient—grumbling and scoffing and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming?” (v. 4).
While God’s timing may appear slow to us, he is not slow “as some count slowness” (v. 9), but is patiently working out his plan of salvation. God’s delay in returning is not tardiness but patience because he “does not want any to perish” (v. 9). Thank God for that!
Just as Jesus Christ came in the “fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4), God works in his perfect timing. He calls us to trust him to bring all that he desires to pass. —Stephen Shaffer
Prayer: Lord, give me a measure of your patience and the wisdom to trust in your timing.
Lent Devotions: Day 37
Read: 2 Peter 2:10b-22
Free to Follow
They promise them freedom, but they themselves
are slaves of corruption. (v. 19)
In college, I attended several dance shows. The freedom the dancers expressed came from countless hours of practice. What popularly is called “dancing”—stepping out and flailing one’s body—is not true dance. Dance requires restraint and structure. The beauty of the dance is not from spontaneous actions but through the ease of movement that is a result of hours of diligent work. Through purposefully training their bodies, true freedom is able to emerge.
Peter is writing to a church surrounded by a culture that adored freedom from restraint. The world had grown “bold and willful” (v.10) in pursuing their desires. Their motto seemed to be: if it could be done, it should be done. This lack of restraint, like a flailing body on the dance floor, led more to injury and pain than liberation. They had become enslaved to their own desires (v. 19). Sound familiar? Peter could have been writing just as easily about our world today.
Instead of unrestrained freedom, Christ grants freedom to follow him. Our Lenten journey is an exercise of just such freedom. This freedom is exercised in restraint—refusing some practices, beginning others. It involves placing ourselves on the path of Christ that we might, by the work of the Spirit, walk in his freedom. —Stephen Shaffer
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the true freedom of life in Christ
Lent Devotions: Day 36
Read: 2 Peter 2:1-10a
He Knows our Trials
The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial. (v. 9)
The Christian life sometimes leads to friction. Walking in step with God can mean walking out of step with the world. This friction can lead to an opportunity to witness, but it may also lead to conflict, scorn and pressure to conform.
Peter’s church was facing intense pressure and trials, but the situation was not beyond God’s control. The ungodliness, false teaching, and wickedness around the church were no threat to God. He had upheld faithful Lot when he was surrounded by Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:1-29). He rescued righteous Noah in the ark in a time when “every intention of the thoughts of [the human] heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). God restrains evil, corrects falsehood, and keeps his people from falling into ruin. Even in dark situations, God maintains control and works to bring his people out of darkness and into light. Peter knew what his church would soon face and was convinced that God would continue to rescue his people—as he had always done.
The Lord also knows our trials. The difficulties we face in our life are no threat to God. Not only does he know our struggles, but he also knows how to lead us out of them. God, who rescued us from sin through Jesus Christ, continues to come and rescue his people. —Stephen Shaffer
Prayer: Lord, thank you for coming to rescue us through your son, Jesus Christ.
Lent Devotions: Day 35
Read: 2 Peter 1:16-21
Bearing Witness
We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven,
while we were with him on the holy mountain. (v. 18)
I was once called to be a witness in a legal proceeding. My friend was accused of a crime, and when the authorities learned I had seen the incident they called me in, sat me down, and questioned me. I was called upon because I knew what had happened.
Peter and the rest of the apostles had witnessed tremendous events. They heard God the Father give Jesus honor and glory both at at his baptism and on the mount of Transfiguration. Peter was there when Jesus healed the lame, cast out demons, and calmed the sea. The disciples heard Jesus’ teachings about the kingdom of God and saw his life, death, and resurrection as the fulfillment of what God had promised long ago. After Jesus’ ascension, Peter was compelled to testify to what he had seen. He witnessed Jesus Christ and then was called upon to be a witness for Jesus Christ because he knew all that had happened.
Like Peter, we are called upon to bear witness. Peter’s testimony to the risen Christ is like a “lamp shining in a dark place” to which we “will do well to be attentive” (v. 19). We remember Christ’s journey to the cross. It is not myth or false witness, but the truth of the gospel. Christ has died, Christ is risen and Christ will come again. —Stephen Shaffer
Prayer: Lord, embolden me to bear witness to Jesus Christ.
Lent Devotions: Day 34
Lent Devotions: Day 34
Read: 2 Peter 1:1-15
Corrective Lenses
For anyone who lacks these things is nearsighted and blind. (v. 9)
Poor eyesight is common. In fact, three out of four people in America need vision correction. Whether we use glasses or contacts, corrective lenses function by putting a lens between our eyes and the world. However, there is a new type of contact that corrects vision itself. Worn at night, the contact forms and reshapes the eye to see clearly so that no glasses or contacts are needed during the day. If you stop wearing them, poor vision returns.
Lenten practices like prayer, Bible reading and fasting help shape our lives to focus on Jesus and “his precious and very great promises” (v. 4). These spiritual disciplines are like that new type of contact lenses: they shape our vision. Spiritual disciplines are not easy nor do they provide instant results, but when practiced in faith and with devotion to God, over time we will see Jesus Christ more clearly.
Neglecting these practices, like refusing to wear those eye-shaping contacts, leads to a deterioration of our vision. We become nearsighted and blind, forgetting even that Jesus Christ has forgiven us. By living with our eyes on Jesus, our vision is shifted and corrected. Our “nearsightedness” gives way to the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. Our faith becomes supplemented with virtue, self-control, godliness, and love. We begin to see Jesus more clearly. —Stephen Shaffer
Prayer: O Lord, correct my vision that I may see you more clearly.
Lent Devotions: Day 33
Read: Psalm 117
All Nations and All Peoples
Praise the Lord, all you nations! (v. 1)
During Lent, it can be easy for me to turn inward and contemplate my own sin and my need for a savior. This posture is appropriate; I ought to bow before the Lord in humility and awe, confessing my unfaithfulness to God. And yet I shouldn’t remain kneeling in isolation. At some point, recognizing God’s steadfast love and faithfulness means that I have to stand up and join others in praising God. We can’t forget Easter.
This standing up is what Psalm 117 calls us to do: “Praise the Lord, all you nations! Extol him, all you peoples!” The good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection isn’t addressed only to the individual; it’s meant for whole nations, entire people groups. Moreover, when we experience the steadfast love of God, we should respond by joining with others and praising the Lord.
Worshiping God in that way gives us a taste of worship in the age to come. In Revelation, John sees an enormous gathering, made up of people “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb…They cried out in a loud voice saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Rev. 7:9-10). What a marvelous picture of life in the kingdom.
So enter into Easter joy and praise him, all you nations!
—Grace Claus
Prayer: Faithful God, with people from every nation and language, we praise your glorious name!
St Croix Reformed Church 