We start Lent with a very special day- Ash Wednesday. On Ash Wednesday, the Body of Christ enters a time of devotion. We look at our own mortality and the consequences of our sins. Traditionally, in the Bible, times of penitence were marked by the wearing of sackcloth and ashes. At the Ash Wednesday service, the forehead of each believer is marked with ashes in the sign of the cross and we are reminded through these ashes that we are “but dust and to dust we shall return” (Genesis 3:19). These are the very words God spoke to Adam and Eve after they committed the first sin.
On Ash Wednesday, after prayer, our family gathers around the table. We each take a piece of paper and we take some time to think about ourselves. What do we struggle with? What do we want God to change in us? We write it all down, fold the paper, and burn it. Then we read Holy Words from the Bible reminding us that once we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us. Just as the words on our paper are unrecognizable, so have our sins been forgiven. Oh, the love of God!