The Big Idea
A short meditation on Ash Wednesday
Note
Used for LCOS Preschool Families 2.28.26
Today is Ash Wednesday. You may see people walking around with a black cross on their forehead. If you have ever wondered why, keep reading.
Ashes are a particularly dirty kind of dirt. The black soot sticks to your skin and takes some work to clean off. Yesterday I mixed together the ashes we will use today to begin the season of Lent and my hands told the story. Black and gritty and dirty. But why in the world would we start anything in the church by getting dirty?
Lent is a time where we walk with Jesus as He takes the long road to Jerusalem. A road He must take because of our selfishness, greed, anger, and all the other dirt and ashes that live within our hearts. He walks the road to the cross so that He can wash our hearts clean.
And so as we begin that journey with Jesus, we put ashes on our forehead. These ashes remind us that “you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” - Genesis 3:19
Without Jesus that would be where things stop. But with Him we walk to the cross. The place where not just our foreheads, but our whole being is washed clean from our sin.