Marked With Mourning
"Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." -- Job 42:6
Today is Ash Wednesday. Some folks know it as the day after Fat Tuesday. Others know it as the beginning of Lent. It is a day when we remember that we are nothing without God, our Creator. We repent, giving an outward sign to all, that we are sinners worthy only of death.
This holy season begins a journey toward Easter and the resurrection of Jesus. We go forward remembering fully what Jesus did for us when He died on the cross. We embrace His sacrifice, His suffering and rejection, paying the penalty for our sins. My sins. Your sins. He, who was without sin, died so that you and I could live forever in the Presence of God Almighty.
Most of the time we can just sort of scoot through life, pretending that we're more than we are. Today we remember that God made us and without Him we don't exist. Today we acknowledge that we are sinners who fall short of the Glory of God. Today we admit that without Jesus we would be doomed to a horrible death and complete destruction.
Many churches will conduct services tonight. Christians will walk humbly to the altar and be marked with the ashes of mourning. We will spend the next 40 days on a journey toward a cross and one solitary man who gave Himself so that we might live.
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