What is that black cross on your head?
We have made it through the first two months of the year, and we have arrived at the beginning of March, as well as the beginning of the Lenten Season. Today, Christian Churches all around the world will be engaged in the celebration of Ash Wednesday. As part of the celebratory worship service there will be an activity called the “Imposition of Ashes”. This is where the Pastor places the sign of the cross on an individual’s forehead with ashes. This act is done while the words “From dust you are and to dust you shall return” is spoken to the recipient.
For us, as Christians, this is a stark reminder that we will one day be given over to a physical death. We are told in Holy Scripture, in Romans 6:23a, “For the wages of sin is death”. It is a reality which should cause us to see the drastic situation we are destined for as sinful human beings. For to do anything else would surely be foolishness and a total misunderstanding of the consequences of man’s sin against Almighty God.
As we start into the season of Lent, let us keep our focus on the cross which is placed upon our foreheads this very night. This symbol is a representation of Jesus’ Passion and eventual death that took place on a wooden cross on a mount called Calvary. It was there where the Son of God and our Savior gave His life, His sinless life, as the perfect sacrificial offering for your and my sins. Yes, the wages of sin is death and Christ Jesus paid the price in full, so you and I did not have to.
As we march on towards Good Friday, and the day when our Lord gave His very body and blood, for the forgiveness of our sins and the salvation of our souls, let us offer up hearts that are repentant and full of remorse for our disobedient acts towards God and His perfect will for our lives. The Lord calls us to come before Him with humble and contrite hearts, confessing our sins and crying out to Him for mercy and grace. And He has promised to hear us and forgive us, as our loving Father, in the precious name of His Beloved Son. Believe it, live it, and stake your salvation on it. So, now come with me as together we once again begin our journey to the cross of Christ. Pastor McCarty
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