​If there was theme song to Ash Wednesday and this season we are entering, the season of Lent … it would have to be Psalm 51. If the words of David’s great penitential Psalm are not already sunk deep into your mind and soul, you might want to make meditation on this Psalm a top priority for the season, especially these verses:
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of my salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit.”

It is always a challenge to hear familiar words with fresh ears and open hearts. For most of you, the words you are about to encounter ... words that truly are God’s Word ... the preaching and teaching of the man who was the Word of God in human flesh ... these words are most likely too familiar.
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So let’s try something different. Let’s try to hear Jesus speaking to us. Let's be aware of the Word’s impact on us at a gut level, a human level, an emotional level. Let this word happen to you and take notice ... without judgment, just note it. Read it out loud.