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Devotional 5.15.26

 

May 15, 2026 – Rend Your Hearts

Joel 2:12-13 – “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful,slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.

Scripture Reading – Luke 5:27-32, 6:12-16, 6:27-36

In the gospel narratives, we often see Jesus going toe to toe with the Pharisees. The Pharisees were Jewish religious leaders who held strict adherence to the Law, and also to the oral traditions passed down from the elders. Jesus described them as hypocrites, a brood of vipers, whitewashed tombs. He accused them of seeking their own public admiration for strictly following the Law, while at the same time neglecting mercy and justice, and burdening people with the demands of the traditions.

 

The Pharisees would separate themselves from people who they considered to be unclean or sinners. That is why they question Jesus sharing a meal with tax collectors and sinners. But Jesus was looking at the hearts of those he was eating with, as well as calling out the Pharisees whose hearts had become hardened.

 

The prophet Joel speaks to this. He is calling the people to return to the Lord with all their heart … to rend their hearts and not their garments. Rending your garments was an ancient Hebrew custom of tearing one’s clothing as a visible, outward expression of intense grief, mourning or repentance. The Pharisees continued to render their garments in following the traditions, but they lost the goal of a repentant, humble and contrite heart behind it. Rending the heart is a genuine inward repentance, a sincere brokenness over sin and commitment to transformative change, rather than merely performing a public, outward ritual.

 

Joel tells us that God is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. This is what Jesus demonstrated when he gathered with tax collectors and sinners, calling them to repentance, and therefore into intimate community with him. As followers of Jesus this is also how we are to imitate him. We are to be gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love – even to sinners and tax collectors, and even to our enemies. This is only possible with a heart that is fully rendered to him.


Further reading: Psalm 51:17; Micah 6:8; Matthew 5:8; Matthew 11:28-30; Matthew 23 

 

Reflection Questions:

1.     What are some of the outward rituals you might do that can hide an unrendered heart?

2.     Does your life more reflect the heart of God or the heart of the Pharisees? 

 

Prayer: Lord, thank you for your amazing grace and unfailing love. Thank you for pursuing me, a sinner, and for your abounding steadfast love. Help me to have a humble and repentant heart that surrenders to you. Help me to lay down my garments and empty boasts, and to imitate you in showing justice, mercy, kindness and love to those around me. Amen.

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