Today is known as “Shrove Tuesday.” It’s the day before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday.

What does it mean?

The name comes from a practice in England to “shrive” on this day—meaning confessing our sins and seeking God’s forgiveness.

Since many people fast during Lent, there was a custom of using up fatty foods on this day to get them out of the house before Lent starts. Hence, pancake time!

With that brief history lesson out of the way, let’s get to the heart of the matter: confessing our sins and seeking God’s forgiveness.

If you’re looking for a place to start, how about confessing to God the times you have not shown mercy to someone. Jesus said: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). In fact, he even went so far as to say that if you don’t forgive others their sins, God won’t forgive yours! (Matthew 6:15)

Perhaps this is someone in your home. Maybe it’s someone at school, work or church. Perhaps there is some other relationship where this is needed. Ask God to forgive your lack of mercy.

All of this is to drive home the point: tell God when you’ve neglected to show mercy towards other people and ask him to forgive you. 

Shrove Tuesday isn’t just about clearing fatty foods out of the house, but about clearing unconfessed sins out of the heart.

Ask God to forgive your lack of mercy, and re-centre your mind on a merciful God.

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Notes:

-“What should Protestants think about Lent?” This is my latest podcast episode. Click here to listen, or find it on ‘The Pulse Podcast with Matthew Ruttan’ (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.)

-“Daniel, The Lion’s Den and True Bravery Today (Daniel 6).” Click here. Sermon.

-A version of this devotional first appeared on February 21, 2023.

-Bible quotes are from the ESV.