Ash Wednesday

Matthew 4:1-11

Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent, the part of the church year leading up to Easter.

During Lent, many Christians choose to fast or give up certain things until after Easter so that they can spend more time focusing on their relationship with God.

Lent itself dates back to the early church, but the practice of marking believers with ashes originated in the eleventh-century church.

During the Ash Wednesday service, believers signify Who they belong to by having the symbol of a cross smudged with ash on their foreheads.

The marking of the cross shows that we have been set aside for God’s purpose during the season of Lent—and at all times.

In January 1925, the people living in the remote town of Nome, Alaska became extremely sick with an illness called diphtheria, which can be deadly if not treated by doctors.

Because of severe winter storms, the only way to get the necessary medicine to the sick was by dogsled.

But the journey was dangerous, and it took twenty teams of dogsledders five and a half days of nonstop travel to cross the 674 miles of deep snow and freezing temperatures to reach Nome.

Each of the mushers gave up warmth, rest, safety, and comfort to make sure the families in Nome would be saved, and they succeeded.

Today, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is held each year to celebrate Alaska’s history and to honor the teams who risked their own lives nearly one hundred years ago.

Lent helps us remember another sacrifice that was made to save the lives of others.

After Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the Bible tells us that Jesus went into the wilderness for forty days (Matthew 4:1–11).

During this time, Christ was tempted by the devil three times.

When Jesus was hungry, the devil challenged Jesus to use his power to feed himself.

When he was physically weak, the devil challenged Jesus to use his power to save himself.

Finally, he promised Jesus the world if Christ would bow to him.

Each time, Jesus stayed faithful to God by relying on God’s Word.

The fasting that begins on Ash Wednesday:

Reminds us that it’s important for us to slow down and take time to be with God.

When we miss the things that we’ve given up during Lent, it reminds us to thank God for our health and for our loved ones.

It also reminds us to ask the Lord to give us strength when we feel weak.

During the next forty days:

We will be tempted to give up early.

We’ll be tempted to get frustrated or angry because we can’t do all the things we usually do.

We might even be tempted to be jealous of others or to think we’re better than Christians who aren’t observing Lent the same way we are.

But Lent is about learning to put God first in our lives.

And the ash and oil that we put on our forehead today can be a reminder for us when we look into the mirror tonight that God is using this time to prepare us to serve him and minister to others, just like he used the forty days in the wilderness to prepare Jesus to minister to us.