Romans 8:1-6
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
Dust and Ashes…What do we hold close to our hearts that we can call dust that needs to be cleansed to allow the Holy Spirit in? Could it be as simple as seeing others more clearly as we go about our life every day?
The pandemic has changed the way we all go about even the simplest of tasks or look at how we see each other in society. Phraseology and Terminology such as BLM, White Privilege, Face Masks, Lockdown/Shutdown, Social Distancing, Quarantine, COVID-19, ZOOM, Online Learning and Livestreaming Worship have become part of our daily conversations or way of life. So has the promise and hope (now being realized) of a vaccine, this COVID-19 virus dying out and everything getting back to what was once normal.
Paraphrasing slightly the scripture above, I believe we can, feel that the law of the Spirit of life, we find in following Jesus will set us free from the law of sin and death. Sin as seen in understanding that we as a nation are still divided over how we relate to each other, anger, and unhealed wounds of past injustices along with current indignations and continuing injustices. Well, if Sin is our “Dust and/or Ashes” then let’s sweep away the dust and ashes in our souls this Easter and let in the Holy Spirit in allowing it to breathe in us and around us. We can put our minds to living a life guided by the Spirit and modeling how it frees us as Christians in our everyday life to be in the world but not of the world.
Prayer: Lord, let us fully appreciate the gift you sent us in your Son, Jesus. Remind us each day to always seek to set our hearts and minds to be guided by the Spirit into Peace, with you, ourselves, and our fellow man. Amen.