Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday

“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you…” – James 4:8 There are many great promises in the Bible, and this is definitely one of them.  When we draw near to God, He promises to draw near to us.  Can you imagine that?  The Great Pursuer Himself desires to be pursued; so He invites us to come as close as we want. As we enter into the season of Lent, we want to be a people who desires to seek God and draw near to Him above all else.  Today is Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent.  What is Lent you ask?  Lent is part of the liturgical calendar that marks the beginning of 40 days (46 if you include Sundays) until Good Friday and Easter Sunday While Lent doesn’t appear in Scripture, it has been a practice of believers for centuries.  Forty days is a significant number because that’s how many days Jesus spent in the desert in preparation before His ministry began.  Traditionally people have taken this time to prepare themselves through prayer, fasting, self-denial, and repentance Often times Lent is all about what we give up and our efforts to keep our promises.  Yet Lent is more than having self-control and giving something up for the sake of giving something up, nor is it to try and appease God.  Religion is man’s attempt to try to control God; to make an unpredictable God predictable based on our behaviors.  People do this out of fear… fear of punishment or circumstances or of “missing out”, but we celebrate Lent out of love and devotion. Devotion...