Enough: Lent DevotionalsSample

  ENOUGH: TWO POCKETS

“...for dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19b)

What do you keep in your pockets? A bit of loose change? Receipts from last week’s shopping? If you’re like me, there’s usually nothing but fluff.

Simcha Bunin, a Polish rabbi, once said that everyone should keep a note in each of their two pockets. When feeling slightly full of yourself, you’d pull out the note from your left pocket, which would say, “I am nothing but dust and ashes.”

But when feeling low or discouraged, you’d reach into the right pocket, where you’d find the words, “The world was created for my sake.”

As we begin Lent, let’s reflect on this glorious paradox at the heart of our existence: we are a bag of blood and bones; we sweat and we smell and we make all kinds of mistakes. And yet, we bear the image of the divine. We are loved, and we are capable of love. 

We are dust and we are holy; we are ash and we are sublime; we are vapor and we have infinite value.

Dear God, I am made of dust, yet You have poured out a whole universe of love upon me. Thank You for this love, for the gift of life, and for all Your creation. Help me to be humble enough to know I have earned nothing, while also seeing that You have given me everything. Amen.

Gideon Heugh, Tearfund

Tearfund is a UK Christian relief and development agency, working in around 50 countries. Our primary focus is supporting those in poverty and providing disaster relief for disadvantaged communities. Click here  to stay in touch with us.