Ash Wednesday

Today marks the beginning of the season we know as Lent with the recognition of Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday serves as a reminder to us that this life is temporary and there is a need for repentance. In Genesis 18:27 we find Abraham saying, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes..." This statement occurs as Abraham is pleading for mercy for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The celebration of Ash Wednesday reminds us that this life is temporary and that we too need mercy.

Ash Wednesday starts off the Lenten season which is a season of fasting and focusing on the Lord as we seek to repent from the things that have distracted us or led us astray from him. The entire season culminates in the celebration of Easter and the gift of grace that is brought to us through Christ's work on the cross, the redemption that leads us from dust and ash to eternal life with him.