Today is Ash Wednesday. Today begins the 40 days of preparation leading up to the celebration of the resurrected Savior – Easter – Resurrection Sunday.

The other day I woke up with worship wars on my mind and the song “Blessed Assurance” running on repeat through my brain. When that happens, I often wonder what the connection is. This morning, I felt compelled to continue that journey using the text of “Blessed Assurance”. For some reason, I had never connected that song to Lent. Being what some would call a Liturgical Christian, those two do not often intersect. But here we are and my brain is telling me they do. So, it is time to explore that connection.

The first verse of “Blessed Assurance” reads as follows”

Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine! Oh, what a foretaste of Glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God. Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

During the season of Lent, we are preparing our lives, physical and spiritual, for celebrating the World Series of the Christian faith. Without the resurrection, the action of Christ dying on the cross and then, three days later, resurrecting to new life, we have no faith. It is the key cornerstone to everything we believe. If Jesus had not risen from the dead, then he is just a man, just a human martyr, and incapable of doing the work he said he was sent here to do. Because of His death and resurrection, we have assurance that when we repent, call on His name, and surrender our lives to His will, we can have that blessed assurance that Jesus is our redeemer.

The opening verse of “Blessed Assurance” is a reminder that when we place our hope in Christ, we have, without a doubt, assurance that Jesus has done the work He said He would do. We are set free!!! The freedom found in Christ is a mere tasting of what life will be like in Heaven (Glory Divine). Because of the work on the cross, the Bible says we are “joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17) and are redeemed from our sins and our sin nature through the blood of the “sacrificial lamb” (Jesus) and his death on the cross.

This redemption is not something we can do for ourselves. The only one that can redeem us is Jesus and the only way that redemption occurs is through surrendering to Him. There are no good works we can do, no actions to perform save one: we must lay down our desires and wills and allow the will of God to take precedence. It is in daily choices on how we treat people: how we speak, act, respond to the world around us. It is through being willing to uproot your life to do something completely different in another place, or maybe even right here where you are. It is responding to the prompting of the Lord when he presses your heart to buy a stranger’s meal, speak to someone even when scared, or even as dramatically as changing careers. It is saying “Lord, I am a sinner. I need you. I want to follow you. Save me. Heal me. Use me. Transform me.”

Surrender is hard. The Christian life is hard. There are many times we do not want to go there. But as believers, we can rest in the knowledge that we have a Blessed Assurance Jesus will walk with us, abide with us, guide us through all those events and decisions. When we allow ourselves to live in this blessed assurance, we find peace that surpasses all understanding, joy unending even in times of trial, and undeniable grace in all actions.

This Lenten season, where is God prompting your heart? Do you have His Blessed Assurance? Are you willing and ready to surrender to His will?