Ashes.

Today we celebrate the beginning of Lent. It is a season which marks the passion of Jesus and is ended with a celebration of the resurrection, which reminds us that God will renew the face of the earth.


It is a season that also reminds us of our mortality. God's Word tells us in Psalm 90:

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations.

2 Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3 You turn men back to dust,
saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men."

4 For a thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.

5 You sweep men away in the sleep of death;
they are like the new grass of the morning-

6 though in the morning it springs up new,
by evening it is dry and withered.

7 We are consumed by your anger
and terrified by your indignation.

8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.

9 All our days pass away under your wrath;
we finish our years with a moan.

10 The length of our days is seventy years—
or eighty, if we have the strength;
yet their span [a] is but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

11 Who knows the power of your anger?
For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.

12 Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

13 Relent, O LORD! How long will it be?
Have compassion on your servants.

14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.

16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children.

17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.




This Psalm reminds us that we are brief, but He is forever. so again this week on this blog, I shamelessly beg of you, live for the Kingdom that will outlive us. Even Jesus knew His time was short-33 years-but He made every moment count. Living for others. Dying to self.

Isn't that what the ashes mean to those of us in a relationship with Christ? A reminder that we have died to ourselves and are raised in Christ.



Lord, teach us to figure out that we won't live forever so that we can make it count...