Ash Wednesday 2022 – March 2, 2022. 

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of 40 day Lenten season. Lend ends the day before Easter on Holy Saturday, which is April 16, 2022. The next six and a half weeks is one of the most important, if not the most important in Christianity. It is during Lent that we remember the life of Jesus Christ – specifically his temptation, suffering, death, and resurrection. It is invaluable to take time to reflect on out sinfulness in confession and prayer as an individual, as we as corporately. Many times, the church emphasizes grace, but we grasp a better concept of grace when we realize how sinful we are and how much God has loved us in the midst of our disobedience. 

Lent is traditionally a 40-day fast – a reference to the time Jesus spent being tempted in the desert that seeks to prepare the heart of the believer for the solemn remembrance of Jesus’ death. It concludes and is followed by a joyous Easter Sunday celebration of the resurrection of Christ.  

We cannot completely appreciate the reality of where we are heading until we sit in the truth of where we are going. This is not only a day of thinking on Christ’s death but each of our own deaths. All of our hope was ashes until Jesus. All of our future was hell until the empty tomb. But because of Christ’s sacrifice, all of our sins have been removed as far as the East is from the West (Psalm 103:12).

Romans 3:234 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ash Wednesday is a day to focus on sin in preparation of the celebration of the gift of Christ on Easter Sunday. 

2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” This is a time of remorse and gratitude for the great love and mercy our Father has on us. Ashes could denote our death, but instead, they represent Jesus’ death and our life.

When we participate in focusing our hearts on the cross, we can step into the season of Easter in its entirety. It takes discipline to slow down and center our thoughts on the weight of death. It is not a fun topic, but it is important. Ash Wednesday is the springboard to the time of fasting in Lent. When we realize how much of a sacrifice Christ made on our behalf, it provides a confidence boost as we prepare to enter our 40 days of sacrifice.

Ash Wednesday is simply one day of the year, but the attitude of today needs to be carried through the entire calendar. These moments should simply be springboards to our faith and reminders of Christ’s love for us and for the world.