Where did the ashes comeThese are the words a priest utters as he smears a cross of ashes onto his congregant’s forehead during an Ash Wednesday service. You can’t find ashes to ashes, dust to dust in the Bible because it isn’t there The phrase comes from the funeral service in the Book of Common Prayer, and it is based on Genesis 3:19, Genesis 18:27, Job 30:19, and Ecclesiastes 3:20.Those passages say that we begin and end as dust. 19 With the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, for you were taken therefrom, for dust you are, and to dust you will return.'“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”Why can’t I find ashes to ashes, dust to dust in the Bible. It's a time for us to look within our lives and if need be to have a change of heart and be more intentional about prayer, and self-discipline and works. Ash Wednesday reminds us of the brevity of life with the rather sobering words as the ashes are sprinkled on us remember you are dust and unto dust you shall return.
For dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return.He asked the woman, Did God really say, You shall not eat from any of the trees in. - Basic English Bible In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, until thou return to the ground: for out of it wast thou taken. You return to the ground, for you were taken therefrom, for dust you are, and to dust you.With the hard work of your hands you will get your bread till you go back to the earth from which you were taken: for dust you are and to the dust you will go back. In fact, some instead say, “Remember that you have to die.”4And the serpent said to the woman, You will surely not die.
Ash Wednesday is a day where we take a page from the book of Job and repent in dust and ashes (Job 42:6). During Lent, we focus on our need for the death and resurrection of Jesus we focus on our need to be forgiven. We are free, but not required, to do the same.So what is Ash Wednesday, and why do many Christians observe it?Ash Wednesday is a day of repentance. And to dust you shall return.For more than a thousand years, Christians around the world have begun the Lenten season this way: with the sober acknowledgement that with humanity came sin, and with sin came death.
The ashen cross the congregant wears is an outward sign of both repentance and hope. But with Christ, they are a reminder that, though our bodies will one day return to dust, we have already been given the hope of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:22).Ash Wednesday is an opportunity to publicly profess our faith. Without Christ, the words “remember that you have to die” are hard ones. We remember that we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, and yes, we all must die (Romans 3:23).Ash Wednesday is a day of hope.
However as a Christian, death in many ways is a new beginning. Even so, in Christ, we live in the eternal hope of the resurrection.“To dust you shall return”–a powerful reminder of our weaknesses and of the human condition, that all must die. Whether in a formal Ash Wednesday service or privately in our homes, we can use tomorrow, the first day of the Lenten season, to remember that from the dust we were made and to the dust we shall return. Wearing the ashes is a way to repent of our rebellion against God and “confess our sins one to another” (James 5:16).On Ash Wednesday we admit our limits and acknowledge the brevity of this life.
Ohh how I have forgotten what it feels like to follow You. That in this process of laying down our fears, our struggles, temptations, and failures, that Christ will strengthen, empower, protect, and deliver us–for this we must pray and He WILL never fail us.For the duration of Lent, let us learn to focus on our call to the cross–to meet Jesus where death has been overcome–and to pray for one another so that we may be healed and raised up in Him and his plans for each of us to bring glory to His name.My God, my Savior, my Master, my Father oh how I have forgotten of the sacrifice you have made for me. But this is the death that brings life! As we learn to do this and try to make it a daily part of our lives, we must pray for each other. Our own pride holds us strongly from wanting to lay it all down, the good and the bad, at His feet.
Please draw me to You again. Please forgive me for acting foolishly and living a life that is not worthy. I am sorry for all that I have done and all that I have forgotten. Please understand that I know, in the depths of my soul, that I do not deserve your grace, your love, or your forgiveness. My heart has been hardened and my spirit has become angry. Lord I have lost my joy, my hope, and my compassion.
Remind me that a life without You is no life at all. Draw me closer to you oh Lord and when I wonder off please remind me of the sweetness of Your love and that Your grace has covered everything I have done and everything I will do. I am ready to come home Abba. I am tired, I am broken, and I am beat down from attempting to live a selfish prideful life.
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