This Wednesday, February 22, beginning in the afternoon, you may begin to see people with a dark smudge on their forehead. If you don’t know, your thought may be, “He didn’t wash his entire face.”
If a person senses that you may be questioning his dirty foreword, he may tell you that it’s ashes, not a failure to wash well— ashes deliberately placed there in an Ash Wednesday worship service.
“So what’s this ashes business all about?”
For Christians, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, a season that continues until Holy Week, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. It is a time designated to gives us an opportunity to grow in our spiritual lives, deepening our relationship with Jesus Christ. It is a time of penance at the heart of which is intentional attention to sin and our need for repentance. It can also be a fruitful time of spiritual growth by detaching oneself from frivolous wants, or habits we want to change, or dedicating ourselves to causes, or other spiritual practices that will assist us in our lifelong journey to God.
Obviously, it an earnest time of self-examination and assessment.
To whatever degree you practice this, I urge you, Please don’t believe the lie that you are unacceptable to God. One of the greatest truths Jesus came to teach us is, “no matter what God loves you anyway.” No matter what your feelings say. No matter what others say, and whether you deserve what they say or not, God loves you anyway. That’s the whole reason God became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ., to seek us and express amazing, transforming love. Stay aware of the affirmation of the Gospel, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
If you are looking for Jesus—and even if you’re not—I heartily remind you, Jesus is looking for you. And please, if you have received the love of God through Jesus Christ, then someone is waiting for you, looking for you to share the love and hope of Jesus that will also change their life.