08/21/2026
Day 6 Morning
Rend Your Heart- Austin Colvin
In the book of Joel, God’s people have just undergone disaster: “The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests mourn, the ministers of the Lord. The fields are destroyed, the ground mourns, because the grain is destroyed, the w**e dries up, the oil languishes.” Joel 1:9-10 English Standard Version
Due to this disaster, the ministers of the Lord are no longer able to perform their typical duties in the temple and their offering is withheld. In verse 13 and 14 of chapter 1, the Lord calls his people to consecrate a fast with all the inhabitants or the land to cry out to the Lord. In the midst of what seems hopeless, what looks broken, God simply asks for His people to seek Him.
Joel 2:12-13 says, “‘Yet even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.’ Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.” God knows the turmoil His people have undergone and instructs them with both physical actions to do, and more importantly: a direction of heart to take.
He calls them to repent, to turn, to undergo a change of mind. He wants your heart, not your garments. He wants to transform your heart as you return to Him and behold Him (2 Corinthians 3:18). Letting God transform your heart will naturally transform your actions. It will naturally help you love your neighbor. It will naturally make you a more generous person and naturally make you more into His image.
Acts 3:19-20 says, “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus.” God wants to refresh you, but He starts with your heart.
Prayer: Thank you Father for this time of fasting. I repent of my sin and want to seek your face. May I present my entire heart to you, that you may transform it, in Jesus’ name, Amen.