Good morning, Lord Jesus. Bright Morning Star, point the way, as I set the course for my day in this morning time with You. …
“The Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to His disciples, saying, ‘Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ Jesus, answered, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.’ Then they said to Him, ‘John’s disciples, like the disciples of the Pharisees, frequently fast and pray, but Your disciples eat and drink.’ Jesus said to them, ‘You cannot make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and they will fast in those days’ ” (Luke 5:30-35).
Around the world, this day is known by such names as Mardi Gra, Fat Tuesday, Carnival. It’s the day before Ash Wednesday, the day before the season of fasting and preparation during the days of Lent to remember Your journey to the cross. Many will celebrate wildly throughout this day and night, with much eating and drinking, loosely based on the historical idea that there’s a day tomorrow for repentance in ashes for the deeds of the flesh done tonight. It’s the idea that there’s much grace for all the sins of Mardi Gra. And I find myself thinking of things I may want to enjoy for the last time for a long time during the next forty days of fasting and prayer, leading to the holy days when we remember Your sacrifice and celebrate Your resurrection.
For most, the extravagant indulgences of this day in the flesh will have nothing to do with a season of sacrifice in preparation of the spirit. It’s just another excuse for a good party. But even for those who are called by Your name, how often do we also presume upon You grace? How often do we sin like the world and live like the devil, presuming upon the promise that our salvation is secure, so we can do as we please with no fear of the Lord?
How often do we lean upon the premise that “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound?” (Romans 5:20, KJV) And in our hurry to embrace the extravagance of Your grace, we forget Your answer to that question: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?… [W]e also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:1-4, KJV).
Lord, thank You for Your steadfast love and all Your mercy. Thank You for Your cross that cleanses my sin in the blood of Your sacrifice. And thank You for Your Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Father, the Spirit of Christ within me, Who honestly reveals to me my temptations, Who loving convicts me of my sins, Who faithfully leads me to my Savior, and Who persistently points me in the way that leads to newness of life.
I’m so glad that Your “love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). But free me each day from the temptation to presume upon Your mercy and love. It’s out of that love that You died for us that we might live for You. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
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