Return to the Lord

Ash Wednesday

“‘And yet even now,’ says the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart…’” Joel 2:12

The seasons of the church year are meant to teach us something about the spiritual life that we need to learn. And today is a significant day in the church year.

It’s called Ash Wednesday, and it marks the beginning of  the Church’s observance of the Lenten Season. Lent is a 40-day (not including Sundays) journey to Easter. It’s six weeks that are sent apart for the purpose of drawing closer to God and seeking him with intentionality and with greater intensity.

Throughout this season, we engage in spiritual practices such as repentance, confession, worship, and fasting. These “spiritual practices have the potential to heal wounds not only within but among us.”

In some faith traditions, palm branches from the previous year are burned to make ash for the following hear. And that Ash is either printed on our heads or a cross made on our foreheads. This practice finds its roots on the Old Testament of covering oneself with ashes.

God’s steadfast love surrounds us in this season as we wrestle with the reality of our sin. Our need for a Saviour. And our need to reorder and anchor our lives in Christ.

When we are willing to sit with the reality of our sin, the sweetness of grace is felt in new and profound ways. We cannot save ourselves. Lent is a season of entering into godly grief that leads to repentance, and then forgiveness and freedom.

Psalm 51:1-17 and Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 are excellent passages to focus on.

Let’s return to God with all our hearts.