Today is Ash Wednesday—the first day of the season of Lent in the Western church—and millions of Christians around the world are observing the beginning of the 40-day journey to Easter Sunday. During the Lenten season, followers of Christ focus on the repentance of our sins in anticipation of the astounding forgiveness that Easter represents.
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In the spirit of repentance and meditation, here are 10 Bible verses that will help you remember God’s everlasting covenant with his people. Take a few minutes to still your heart in the midst of the world’s noise and demands, and focus on God’s Word. If you’d like to take more than a few minutes and go deeper into the Word, each verse reference is linked to the full chapter from which that verse was taken.
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If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. —1 John 1:9 (NIV)
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. —2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)
Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. —Acts 3:19 (NLT)
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. —1 John 2:2 (KJV)
“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the LORD God. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the LORD God. “Therefore turn and live!” —Ezekiel 18:30-32 (NKJV)
Trusting with the heart leads to righteousness, and confessing with the mouth leads to salvation. —Romans 10:10 (CEB)
And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. —Acts 2:21 (ESV)
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. —Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. —Proverbs 28:13 (KJV)
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. —1 John 3:2-3 (NKJV)
[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, Infographic: What Happened During Holy Week Day-By-Day]
By Gary Thomas
Today is Shrove Tuesday, the day before the beginning of Lent. It’s rather colorfully known as Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, and even Pancake Tuesday in different places around the world. (The references to food derive from the practice of feasting on the day before Lent’s fasting period begins.) Shrove Tuesday isn’t observed in most churches to the extent that Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Palm Sunday, and other Lent-related holidays are—but it’s a good reminder to set aside a few moments today to reflect on the coming Easter season.
By Morgan Harper Nichols
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