Year of Exposure Day 50: He replaces our ashes with a beautiful crown.

Year ““The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.””

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭61‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten Season.

Traditionally, the Lenten season is observed as a time of repentance and soul-searching in preparation for Resurrection Sunday. As well, many people sacrifice something during this time.

Although not an observance prescribed in the Bible per se, being called to a time of prayer and fasting certainly is.

In Bible times sorrow—and by extension—repentance was expressed by wearing sackcloth and putting ashes on the head.

For example, when Jonah warned Nineveh of coming destruction, they repented in sackcloth and ashes.

“So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?”

‭‭Jonah‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Indeed, God saw their sorrow and repentance and relented concerning their destruction.

Jesus references this practice when scolding the towns in which the people refused to repent although He had done many mighty miracles.

“Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.””

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭20‬-‭24‬ ‭NKJV

Whether practicing the receiving of ashes on the forehead or not, it’s a good thing to take this time to humble our souls before the Lord.

In our opening scripture, we see the promise that the Messiah would replace the people‘s ashes with “beauty,” rendered in another translation as “a crown of beauty.”

“To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭61‬:‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Child of God, if you have repented of your sins, you can know that Jesus replaces the sorrow of sin with the joy of our salvation.

Yes, we should humble ourselves before the Lord and repent when we falter. But we who have been forgiven, can look expectantly for the day when all sin is finished, and we will spend an eternity of joy with our Lord.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!