Today is Ash Wednesday. It is the first day of Lent and the beginning of a forty day journey to Easter. It is a time of prayer and sacrifice and an intentional return to God. We fast, we pray, and we die to ourselves so that one day we may live in Jesus. 

Here in Georgia, the birds are singing, azaleas are blooming, and spring is here. New life abounds around every corner. Pink and white camellias are still abloom in the church yard, and dogwood trees are covered in a profusion of pink blossoms. 

Everything is coming to life! And yet today, we mark the sign of the cross with ashes on our foreheads to signify death to sin and repentance. 

When my son, Andrew, was little, his religion teachers had the children draw pictures of what they were giving up for Lent. Andrew was quite unruly and hyper. He was always in trouble at home. All the time, he was hitting his brother, annoying his sister, and just in general, being a handful. So the picture that he drew for his teachers was him giving up the devil for Lent. It shows him vanquishing the devil with rocks. I’m not sure who the red eyed blonde is, but I’m pretty certain the purple figure is the devil and the figure in the sky is God.

My ex husband and I laughed hysterically because it was spot on. Of all of our kids, he NEEDED to give up the devil. And did he make it forty days without getting in trouble? NO! But his picture evinced a mature self-awareness even at the age of 6. He knew that he did wrong and that evil was a part of him. And he also knew that he needed to amend his ways.

Isn’t that true of all of us? We give up chocolate, wine, junk food or social media and we take on prayer and fasting. Those are the small indulgences that we sacrifice to take us out of our comfort zones. In offering our sacrifices to God, we are asking that God transform US. That God take the gifts we offer freely and transform our very souls. That we may die to sin and live a new life in Jesus Christ. 

And so death to sin and new life in Christ is very much like taking ashes on a sunny, warm spring day. The birds are chirping, the daffodils have popped out of the ground and there is hope and newness all around us, even as we die to our sinfulness.

We may not be able to fully give up the devil for forty days….but we can try.