Lent Meditation: Day 7 - February 24, 2026

📖 Scripture Verse

Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” Mark 1:15

🕯️Meditation

Repentance is a theme of Lent.  But repentance is not about shame for mistakes we have made, rather it is an invitation to turn and trust God.  We turn away from things that perhaps we once thought we could rely on on: our own strength, our own wisdom, wealth, power, or image.  We stop trusting in things that we once thought would make us “ok” and instead trust in the One who offers true meaning, purpose, and joy.  Jesus calls people to turn to him because in him “the kingdom of God has come near.”  The kingdom of God is not a nation with laws and borders, with some in and some out—the saved and the damned—rather it is the dominion of God over all creation.  Jesus shows the nearness of the kingdom in his teaching, in his works, and in his death and resurrection.  It is a kingdom where what has gone wrong in human lives is restored to the goodness that God created us for.  Turning and trusting is the ongoing response in Christian lives to the call of God.  We repent joyfully, over and over again, constantly turning our lives toward Christ until we wake up in his likeness.

🙏 Prayer

Loving God, help me hear and respond to Christ’s call to turn and trust.  Help me lay aside trust in things that cannot save, help me turn from things that cannot satisfy. Help me come into the kingdom, and live by its principles of grace and loving-kindness for me and for others. Amen.

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