Precious brothers and sisters in Christ, Ash Wednesday is a sobering reminder that 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙨 and needs God. That he doesn’t sustain himself, even if he thinks so. It is the breath of God in his lungs that sustains him. Indeed we are dust and ashes, without the living spirit of God.
What can a man be proud of? His looks? His status? Or his wealth? Indeed as the saying goes, “In the end, the king
and the pawn
, both go into the same box”
. Neither does he take his hard earned money with him, nor his hard earned reputation. He is reduced to what he was made of, stripped from all his possessions, and worms and maggots possess his lifeless body in the grave.
But a life lived for Christ has a better ending. He has something incredible to look forward to, something beyond the grave, and beyond death. He looks forward to meeting his maker, to receiving his rewards of righteous living. He isn’t afraid of condemnation or abandonment. Unafraid of hearing “depart from me you worker of inequity, I never knew you”. Because he knows his God, and has lived for him. He can see the radiant hope beyond the sobering truth of Ash wednesday.
God bless you.
