February 25, 2020 – Fat Tuesday
Today is known in some places as Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras (literally in French mardi=Tuesday, gras=fat), or in Poland as Paczki Day, and in Germany as Fastnacht Day. In Iceland, it’s known as sprengidagur or “Bursting Day”, meaning to eat til you burst. Since it’s the day before Lent, or the beginning of Easter season, Fat Tuesday is a day to eat or do things before you focus on Easter, when a lot of people give something up for Lent. Shrove actually comes from ‘shrive’ which means to confess.
It’s kind of a crazy idea to go way overboard with something, just because you’re going to cut back on it the next day. Like if your mom said you needed to give up candy, but you could eat as much of it as you wanted the day before. You’d probably make yourself sick trying, right?
It’s the same way with sin–why would you sin as much as possible before you ask for forgiveness? It’s in the word repentance. To repent means more than just being sorry for sin, it means to try and change your ways. Repentance is a sign that you are trying to grow from your mistakes. So instead of sinning on purpose because you know you can ask forgiveness, you need to remember that repentance and humility are a big part of it.
Change your hearts! And show by your lives that you have changed.
Luke 3:8 (ERV)
Don’t look at my sins. Erase them all. 10 God, create a pure heart in me, and make my spirit strong again.
Psalm 51: 9-10
Dear Father, teach me how to be repentant, to try and learn from my mistakes and to do better. Forgive me for any sins and make my heart pure again. Thank you Jesus, Amen.
