Day 11 of Lent: March 17, 2025

From Ashes to Alleluia: A Devotion on Deuteronomy 9:6

"Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people." – Deuteronomy 9:6

From the very beginning, humanity has wrestled with the idea that we can earn God's favor through our own efforts. We want to believe that if we do enough good, follow the right path, and avoid the worst sins, we will somehow deserve God's blessings. But Deuteronomy 9:6 reminds us of a difficult truth: we are a stiff-necked people.

The phrase stiff-necked comes from the image of an ox resisting its yoke—refusing to be guided, pulling against the reins, unwilling to submit to the one leading it. This is God's charge against the Israelites, and if we are honest, it is a charge against us as well. We are stubborn. We resist correction. We want to go our own way, even when we know God's way is better.

But here is the grace: God’s promises do not depend on our righteousness. The Israelites did not receive the Promised Land because of their goodness, and we do not receive the kingdom of God because of ours. We do not turn ashes to alleluias by our effort—God does.

Despite our stiff-necked ways, God does not abandon us. Instead, Jesus comes to replace our burdensome yoke with his own. He tells us in Matthew 11:29-30:

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Where we pull and resist, Jesus gently leads. Where we stumble and fail, Jesus carries us forward. Where we would remain in the ashes of our stubbornness, Jesus lifts us into the light of his resurrection. He turns our resistance into surrender, our burdens into grace, our ashes into alleluias.

So today, let us acknowledge the truth: we are a stiff-necked people. But let us also rejoice in the greater truth: God’s love is not earned, but given freely. Because of Christ, we do not remain in the dust, struggling under a yoke we cannot bear. Through him, we are led home, into the fullness of God’s kingdom.

Prayer:

Gracious and merciful God, we confess our stubbornness, our resistance to Your leading, our prideful hearts that long to earn what You have already given freely. Forgive us. Take our burdens, replace our yoke with Christ’s, and lead us from the ashes of our failures into the alleluias of Your grace. In the name of Jesus, who lifts us from dust to glory, Amen.