Today is Ash Wednesday. This holy day marks the first day of Lent. Christians begin a journey of repentance and renewal, reminding us of:
- our mortality
- our need for repentance and turning away from sin
- God’s grace and forgiveness through the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
Did you know that one of the most beautiful and cherished items in all the world—a diamond—is nothing more than carbon dust that has been exposed to pressure? Transformed ashes.
Some of you older folks may remember watching the old black-and-white Superman TV series, the one starring George Reeves. There’s a scene, in one of those episodes, in which Superman takes a lump of coal in his hand and squeezes it very hard.
He grunts. He grimaces. Smoke comes out of his clenched fist. Yet, when he opens his hand, the lump of coal is there no longer. A glittering diamond has taken its place.
In God’s hand, the ashes of a human life are more than mere trash. By the amazing power we call grace, we can be transformed from our natural state of sin into something strong and beautiful.
And how do we know this is true? Because of another journey from dust to diamonds, a journey taken over 2,000 years ago by a man named Jesus. He went to a cross and died. They laid his remains in a borrowed tomb. Three days later, he rose and lived again.
Dust to diamonds! These are his promises:
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor” (Isaiah 61:1-3).
PRAYER: On this day of remembrance, repentance, and renewal, Lord Jesus, take my dust, whatever is worldly in me and dead to you, and transform it into a new and holy life. Forgive my sins. Renew my spirit with new faith and spiritual vitality. Make me beautiful in you. Amen.
TAKE THE NEXT STEP: Some Christians use ashes to make the sign of the cross on their forehead or the back of their hand today. Try it!
