Devotion
Repent and Believe the Good News
Frances Taylor
We have heard these words many times as they were said to us while ashes were placed on our foreheads on Ash Wednesdays over the years as a sign of repentance. What is the "Good News?"
For Noah, it meant that God had made a promise to never allow floods to destroy the earth. For Abraham, it was a promise that he would become the father of a great nation and that he would be a blessing for his people. For Moses, the Ten Commandments were the sign of a new covenant with the people as they formed a nation. Throughout the Old Testament, God made covenants with the people and with Jesus, those covenants came to fulfillment.
For us, the Good News is that Jesus has come to save us through his life, death and resurrection. When we come to a true, conscious belief in this truth, our lives must change. We see the need to repent, to examine our lives, take stock and see what we can do to be better witnesses of Christ. Lent is the time the church year gives us for this process. Jesus' words at the Last Supper tell us that his blood is the blood of this New Covenant. In the understanding of those who lived in the time of Jesus, covenants were more than just a contract or promise, as anyone who broke a covenant was subject to death. And yet God never demanded our death – or Abraham's or Noah's, or Moses' – if we or they broke the covenant. However, we are called to do our part. As we continue our Lenten journey, may we all reexamine our commitment to Christ, truly believe the Good News and let our actions follow.
Prayer
Father, forgive me for me sins. Let this season of Lent help me to truly repent, to work to correct my faults and become more the person God created me to be. Amen.
Devotion
Abraham is Father of All
Frances Taylor
There are questions in every age about the importance of the Old Testament for Christians. Abraham is considered to be the Father of Faith for Jews, Christians and Muslims. We forget that it was Abraham who believed in the doctrine of only one God. It is through him and his descendants that this tradition comes down to us. Another fact that we can overlook is that Jesus was Jewish. He was born a Jew, lived as a Jew, died, rose and ascended into heaven as a Jew. Because we believe that he was the Messiah, the Christ, and we follow him, we are called Christian. Without the Old Testament, we wouldn't understand the promise of salvation; we wouldn't understand why it was important for Jesus to be of the family of King David. We would not understand his teaching either, because Jesus quoted from Scripture – the Old Testament – frequently. He told us that he came to fulfill the Scriptures, not to abolish them. In the same way, we can ...
