Ash Wednesday - The Season of Lent

Ash Wednesday - the beginning of Lent and a time for reflection. 

"All go to one place.  All are from the dust, and to dust all return." - Ecclesiastes 3:20

Death of our earthly body is inevitable.  Our bodies will return to dust because we are sinners.  The ashes placed on our forehead on Ash Wednesday are to remind us of our sin.  It is through Christ's death and resurrection that those "ashes" can be wiped clean.

Many times people choose to eliminate something in their life to help them reflect upon the sacrifices Christ made for us.  Take what you eliminated and fill it with something that will help draw you closer to the Lord.  Fill it with time with Him.  Spend time in prayer.  Spend time in scripture.  Spend time listening to Him.  Spend time seeing how Christ is truly present in your life.

When we draw closer to someone we can have a deeper empathy for them as they experience all the different things life throws at them.  When we draw closer to the Lord our empathy for the sacrifices He provided for us is deeper as well.  We truly see that through Him we have been given life.  There is nothing we can do that will eliminate the "ashes" from us.  It is only through Christ and what He has done for us that we are are clean.

It is a sobering time to reflect upon how our sins crucified our Savior.

This year I am going to fill my time with the challenge of the Lent Photo-A-Day.  I enjoyed the challenge during Advent and am looking forward to spending time in scripture focusing on a specific word.

Cheryl