Wednesday, Mar 5

Scripture: Genesis 3:19b (NIV) – “for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

Message: Ash Wednesday announces the beginning of Lent and summons us to remember Jesus’ journey to the cross and resurrection. It is called Ash Wednesday because ashes were used in ancient times to express mourning. Dusting oneself with ashes was the penitent’s way of expressing sorrow for sins and faults. This day invites reflection, repentance, re‑dedication and marks the beginning of forty days of study, self-examination, sacrifice and prayer. The meaning of the number of “forty days” in Hebrew is a significant symbolic period of testing, transformation, judgment, spiritual growth and new beginnings. It was never intended to be a rigid calendrical* time.

In apostolic times, a period of preparation and fasting was observed before the festival of Easter which was also the time for Baptisms. The formalization of the forty days of Lent was not instituted until the First Council of Nicea in 325 AD. In the early centuries fasting rules were strict, as they still are in the Eastern Orthodox Church. One meal a day was allowed in the evening, and meat, fish, eggs, and butter were forbidden; some also restricted the use of wine, oil, and other dairy products. In the West fasting rules have gradually been relaxed; the strict law of fasting in the Roman Catholic Church ceased during World War II. Today, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are observed as fast days in many Christian traditions. The emphasis on penitential practice and almsgiving remains, as well as a focus on self-denial, service to others, and with many Christians refocusing on spiritual growth.

Jesus went to the wilderness for forty days to set aside the distractions of normal, “worldly” life and to focus on God and God’s will for Him which included self-reflection, testing and transformation in preparation for His ministry.

Join Asbury Christians as we celebrate Christ’s life and ministry, and be blessed as you journey through Lent with these powerful and uplifting devotionals, inspired and written by members and friends of Asbury United Methodist Church.

Prayer: Father, Comforter, Creator, be with me as I enter this Holy Season and help me on my journey through Lent to focus on You and to prepare my heart, mind and body for the true meaning of Holy Week and the glory of the Risen Christ on Easter Day. Amen.

David Vatcher, Editor

*calendrical - Calendrical means relating to a calendar or time measurement. For example, you might describe a ritual or calculation as calendrical.

Don't forget, today's Lenten Gathering