It’s Ash Wednesday—the first day of Lent and a day on which Christians for generations have confessed their sins and been reminded of the sober truth: “For dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19). But who really wants to talk about sin? Isn’t it better to ignore it? Downplay it? Sweep it under the rug? Is that what you’ve been doing with your sins? How’s that working out? Here’s how that worked out for King David in the Bible: “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long” (Psalm 32:3).
By God’s grace, there’s a better way: “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’—and you forgave the guilt of my sin” (Psalm 32:5). The answer to sin isn’t to hide it or ignore it. The answer is Jesus—the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. I hope you join with other Christians today to honestly confess the truth: We are dust, but God in his inexplicable grace gives life and forgiveness to dust through Jesus.
Ashes remind us of two important things: 1) Ashes symbolize death. Your death. One day your body will turn back to dust and ashes. Why? Because you are a sinner, and sin brings death. While thinking about your death may not be pleasant, it is necessary. Each passing year means that your time of grace on earth is that much shorter. On Ash Wednesday more than any other day in the church year, we stop to consider whether we are ready to die. Death brings us face to face with our own sin. Death brings us face to face with our need for a Savior. 2) Ashes symbolize repentance. Since you are going to die, your greatest need in your short time here on earth is to turn from your sin and find forgiveness in Jesus. In other words, you need to repent. Repentance is a confession of your sins in all their ugliness. It also includes turning to our Savior, Jesus, with the cry of the tax collector, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” Throughout the Bible, we find again and again that one way God’s people have outwardly shown the inward repentance of their hearts is by dressing in sackcloth and wearing dust and ashes. Here’s God’s promise: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Jesus loves you!
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