Early this morning, I went with my Mother and step-father to a special Ash Wednesday service (my parents go to a traditional church).

Although Ash Wednesday is not marked in the contemporary-worship church I go to (to my knowledge), I enjoy such events on the calendar of liturgy-based churches, because I really like to reflect on the meaning, and how I can relate this back to my own relationship with God.

Ash Wednesday signifies the first day of Lent which is the 40 day period leading up to Easter, and is a time of fasting, and of reflection on and repentance of sin in our lives.

Repentance is a significant part of Ash Wednesday and a key theme of the services. Ashes are literally applied to the foreheads of those of us taking part and are a symbol of the ancient tradition of throwing ash overhead to show repentance before God. The ashes also speak of the fragility and frailty of human life.

When I went up to the altar, the minister applied the black ash in the form of a cross on my head with the words, “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Turn from your sin and be faithful to Christ.”

The service and these words in particular, made me think of all the verses in the Bible where God reminds us of the reality of what we are, and what our lives are. Verses like “all flesh is as grass” 1 Peter 1:24 and “certainly every man at his best state is but a vapour” Psalm 39:5 and “For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust” Psalm 103:14. Another verse which I find really powerful is where God actually says what the minister echoed at the service, “For dust you are, and to dust you shall return” Genesis 3:19.

These verses give such perspective and are so humbling. I once read a definition of humility which is something like walking in the true knowledge of who God is, and who we are in relation to Him. For me, these verses in the Bible help define this.

He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Great I AM, the Creator and the Judge, the Lord God. We are dust, grass that withers, vapours that vanish.

I can see how walking in this understanding of God’s awesomeness and our frailty would help us to keep an attitude of repentance, humility, and a dependence on His  grace.

As King David prayed, “Lord, make me know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am” Psalm 39:4.