GROWING SEEDS: 'Ash Wednesday"

ASH WEDNESDAY

February 13

"And I set my face to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, 

with fasting and sackcloth and ashes."

Daniel 9:3

When I was 20 years old, I worked as a transcriptionist for an insurance company in Dallas.  One of my dearest friends there was an older lady named Sandra who went to the Methodist Church.  One day Sandra came into work a little late and as she walked past me, I noticed she had a smudge of "something" on her forehead.  I called her over to my desk, stood up, spit on a tissue and wiped the smudge right off her forehead.  That is when I first heard of Ash Wednesday.

And how blessed am I, an ex-Seventh-day Adventist who was never taught about Ash Wednesday, to have been asked to write about this amazing event.  I feel quite sure many of you were like me; having no idea what Ash Wednesday meant.  But what a truly sacred event this is.  According to the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke; Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the desert before He endured temptation by Satan.  Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of this 40-day period of prayer and fasting.   But why the ashes?  The ashes, which are placed on the forehead in the sign of the cross, represent a sign of mourning and repentance to God.  Ashes, according to the Bible, were used to express mourning, and dusting oneself with ashes was a remorseful way of expressing regret for sins and faults all throughout the Bible.  Many use this day to go without all or some kinds of food or drink known as fasting as well.

So exactly what happens at the Ash Wednesday service?  Pastor Jack will apply ashes in the shape of the cross on the forehead of each person, while speaking the words, "For dust you are and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19) which are the words God spoke to Adam and Eve after they had eaten of the forbidden fruit and fallen into sin.  They remind each of us of our sinfulness and mortality and the need to get right with God before it is too late.  The cross reminds each of us of the good news that through Jesus Christ' crucifixion, there is forgiveness for all sins, all guilt and all punishment.

When we look in the mirror on Ash Wednesday and see the black smudge on our forehead, we should be reminded that, no matter what, we are still sinners in need of constant conversion.  It is to change our lives as we approach the greatest celebration in the Church.  Easter.

So don't wear your ashes proudly, but make sure you wear them.....and wear them humbly.

"You started out as dirt, you'll end up dirt." 

Genesis 3:19 (Message)