Summerfest starts today! This picture is from the 36th floor of the US Bank building.Will I scan your ticket this year??

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 
Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. 
Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. - Psalm 51:1-5

In the Old Testament it was common practice for individuals to show sorrow over sin by wearing sackcloth and sitting in ashes.  It was an attempt to show on the outside the misery that was going on inside.  As Christians celebrate Ash Wednesday today, we continue to be sorrowful over the sins we have committed.

The writer of Psalm 51, King David, had reason to be sorrowful over his sin.  2 Samuel 11,12  paint an ugly picture of David the sinner.  He slept with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, and she became pregnant.  After attempts to cover up the affair failed, he arranged to have Uriah killed.  David’s sin was horrible and damnable.

David asked for forgiveness that he knew he did not deserve.  So rather than trying to candy-coat his actions, he was honest.  He admits sin, iniquity, transgression and evil which had affected and infected him from the time he was born.  David did not deserve to be forgiven, so he simply threw himself on God’s mercy begging for forgiveness.  It was a forgiveness that God freely gave him.

Today is a day for all to be honest with God about sin.  We also need to admit sin, iniquity, transgression and evil that have come from our sinful hearts.  But this is also the start of Lent.  Lent is a Christian season when we consider the payment Jesus made for our sin.  As we follow Jesus to the cross on Calvary, we see God’s undeserved love and mercy which he offers to all people.

Join King David today in confessing your sin.  Be assured that through Jesus Christ you have been forgiven!

Prayer:
Almighty and merciful Father, you freely forgive those who, as David of old, acknowledge and confess their sins.  Create in me a pure heart, and wash away all my sins in the blood of your dear Son, Jesus Christ my Savior and Lord.  Amen.

From http://www.whataboutjesus.com Daily Devotions

For while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6-8

Would you die for someone?  Do you think anyone would ever die for you? What would it take for you to give up your life, say, for a stranger? One trillion dollars? Here's an even better question: are you worth dying for?

If you take a good look at the things you have done in your life, maybe you'll say that you are worth dying for.  Perhaps you have volunteered at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter.  Perhaps you donate a good chunk of your hard-earned money to the less fortunate. Perhaps you have used your abilities to help someone who needed it. On the other hand, what about the times that you scoffed at someone who asked you for money? What about the times that you were rude to a coworker or gossiped about someone? Have you ever lied? You're a liar.  Have you ever wanted something someone else had because you thought you deserved it? You're a covetous person. Have you ever thought of someone other than your spouse in a sexual way? For single people, have you even had the remotest impure thought? You're an adulterer. There is no way you're going to make it through this life and not be a horrible, sinful person. Even one seemingly small mistake or slip-up makes you damnable in God's eyes.  All you get to look forward to is eternal torment. Suffering. Pain. Heartache.  Multiplied more times that you can even begin to imagine. There is no escape from that.

And yet, someone went through all that pain. The pain that everyone on this earth--for all time--deserves was compounded into one excruciating event. Why would someone choose to die for you and everyone else on this earth--even the people we don't think are worth saving?  It's amazing to me to think that for all the things that I've done, someone could still say, "I love you so much, I want to do this for you." God, because of what Jesus did on that cross, doesn't see the liar.  He doesn't see the coveting that happens. He doesn't see the sexual sins that happen so often, even when we don't realize it. How can any one person love the whole world that much? It's a mystery to our simple minds, but Jesus did, does and will keep on doing. He forgives us as we fall every single day, even as we grumble and complain before we roll out of bed! All he asks is that you believe in him.  Repent and ask forgiveness for your sins.  Let him fill your heart with his love, that you can better love others.

This doesn't mean that it will all of a sudden start dropping rainbows and flowers on you.  You will struggle.  In the verses before the ones quote above, it says we should "rejoice in our sufferings!" Rejoice? In sufferings? Even through the trials of this life, it will not even hold a candle to the flaming fires of hell. We can rejoice knowing that even through our trials, God is there with us.  He will never let us fall. Thank Jesus for that!

Lord, I call to You. In Your great mercy, hear my prayer. I have disobeyed You and fallen short of what You have required of me and my life. I am unable to keep Your Holy Law perfectly. I know there is nothing I can do of myself to improve my relationship with You and to attain Heaven. Rather, my thoughts, my words, and my actions show that I am fit for hell instead. But Your Holy Spirit has worked through Your Holy Word to give me the faith to truly believe that Your Son Jesus died in my place, on my behalf. He did this and arose from death that I, too, may be saved from hell. Have mercy upon me, a sinner. By the power of the Holy Spirit I desire to know that in You I am a new creation. Thank you for making me Your own, for coming into my life and giving me new life. Amen.

(Prayer borrowed from a question at the WELS Q&A: http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?process&procID=1518&cuQA_qaID=1&cuTopic_topicID=49&cuItem_itemID=23209)