From My Wonderings

"He satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with good.”(Psalm 107:9)

I am a very inquisitive person. I like to know the details about most things that are going on – politics; Bible questions that at first glance seem to be unanswered; family, friends and world happenings, etc. – everything - (maybe this is the “woman” in me). I like to be informed so I will know how to pray with specificity, or just to be able to discern situations in making decisions when those circumstances concern me. In this campaign year I try to be “up” on all the correct information regarding the political candidates. But sometimes some details are best left unknown or unanswered, and certainly best left unrepeated (Lord, give me wisdom when to leave all the details to You, since you know all things anyway). Since we have now entered the Lent/Easter season, and since I have always wondered about Ash Wednesday, my curiosity has piqued my interest in Ash Wednesday, which is the beginning of the Lent season (46 days leading up to Easter, the Resurrection day, this includes the Sundays). Although I have always heard of it I have never been connected to a denomination which celebrated Ash Wednesday. But I now have a dear friend who is a Methodist minister and she was preparing for the Ash Wednesday service at her church. So being curious about this special day I asked her for details of this service. She sent me a copy of their Ash Wednesday service program, since I couldn’t attend. To my joy I was most touched with the meaning and purpose of this time and whether I attend a special service, or not, I plan to make it a part of my time of worship during the time of Lent.

After looking over her bulletin, and in my further study, I was reminded of how Jesus went apart for forty days into the wilderness to prepare for His ministry. This was a time of fasting, reflection, contemplation and preparing His heart for the time of ministry and testing which lay ahead of Him. Ash Wednesday begins the 40 days (plus Sundays) which lead up to the most holy Christian day – Easter – which is the celebration day of Jesus’ Resurrection. We celebrate because Christ rose from the dead (as He said He would), after taking our sins to the cross, which paid the price of the forgiveness of our sins, and reconciling us to the Father, and giving us the privilege of becoming children of God Almighty. Many Christians join Jesus in a period of fasting (abasing the flesh so the Spirit within will be exalted), in contemplation on the cost of following Jesus, and in addition, a time of humbling ourselves, confessing and repenting (changing our minds and turning from our sins), and seeking His face.

Lent consists of the forty days before Easter. In the western Church, we skip over the Sundays when we count the days of Lent, because Sunday should always be the joyful celebration of the Resurrection. Therefore, the first day of Lent in the western Church is always a Wednesday.

In the Old Testament times to wear sackcloth and ashes was to be contrite, penitent over our sins. It was an ancient Hebrew custom to wear sackcloth dusted with or accompanied by ashes as a sign of humility in religious ceremonies. So ashes became a sign of remorse, repentance, and mourning. Back then people put ashes on their foreheads.

In Germany, in the days of Hitler, the Jews had to wear around their necks or on their clothing the six pointed star, the “Star of David,” to signify, and plainly show they were Jews. This sign was to Hitler and his followers a sign of shame, to be ridiculed, to be persecuted, ostracized and hated. To a Christian the sign of the cross is a sign of suffering, forgiveness, freedom, peace, joy, hope and love for who-so-ever-will receive its message.

If you have read the book, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, you will remember how the young, Hester Prynn, fell into sin and had to wear a letter the rest of her life on the outside of her clothes in plain sight. This letter was a patch of fabric in the shape of an “A,” signifying “Adulterer,” a letter to signify shame and guilt. Conversely, the sign of the ashen cross on the forehead of Christians isn’t a sign of shame but it is a sign of repentance, humility and forgiveness, restoration and love.

To some, regrettably, the sign of the ashen cross on their forehead in public, becomes “fashionable” and prideful thing to show that “I have religion.” It is sad how some may use a smudged, ashen cross to hide their true prideful heart (only God knows our heart). Man may look on the outside, but God sees and knows our hearts.
Although the Bibles does not mention the customs of Ash Wednesday and Lent, those Christians, who now are observing Ash Wednesday, will have the sign of the cross marked in ash on their forehead. This is to show to all their willingness to humble themselves and be contrite over their sins. This ashen cross on their foreheads should signify their changing their minds about their sins, to recognize they are sinners in need of the Savior. It is to signify their acceptance of Jesus’ payment for those sins and cling to Him as the only One Who can forgive them of all their sins.

Some people only celebrate the happy times in Jesus’ life: Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday, and Christmas. But I think as true followers, although our church may not celebrate Ash Wednesday or Lent, we can on our own humble ourselves, confess our sins and seek His face. We should retreat with Him into a solitary place not just during Lent but every day. We should also watch and pray on Maundy Thursday, as Christ asked His aplostles to do. We should stand by Him, symbolically, at the cross on Good Friday and every day and look into His face and see the suffering because of His love for us. Then we can rejoice that Christ is risen and has given us new life, and now sits on the right hand of the Father interceding for us. Rejoice that He is preparing a place for us that where He is, we someday will be with Him!!!


Prayer: “Thank You, Jesus, for Your willingness to pay such a magnanimous price for me for my salvation. Thank You for the cross, that terrible weapon of death, on which You were willing to die. Thank You for giving me Your Holy Spirit Who convinced me of my sinfulness, Who showed me, Yourself, my only Savior, Who wooed me with love and then baptized me into Your Body. Thank You for that same Holy Spirit Who satisfies my inquiries for more to know about You.”

More About Jesus
(John R. Sweney)

More about Jesus let me know, more of His grace to others show, More of His saving fullness see, More of His love Who died for me.

More, more about Jesus, More, more about Jesus; More of his saving fullness see, More of His love Who died for me.