Today is Ash Wednesday. It marks the beginning of Lent—a forty day period (excluding Sundays) leading up to the ground zero of the Christian faith: the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. 

Some churches and traditions have a custom of putting ashes on people’s foreheads on this day. Why? One of the reasons is that ashes are a reminder about our mortality. 

After Adam sinned, God instructed Adam about his mortality: “for dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19). Or consider Psalm 103:14-16. It says: God “knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.” In that psalm the relatively short timeline of human existence is contrasted with the eternity of God and his steadfast love.

At first, all of this can sound unnecessarily morbid. But I would argue that reflecting on our mortality actually leads to a more abundant and hope-filled life while here on earth. 

Jud Wilhite concurs: “The people who are most aware of their mortality tend to spend their lives most richly.”*

The logic makes sense. If you have an infinite amount of time with your best friend, you’re probably not going to use your time as wisely as you would if your visit was only going to last a weekend. Because the time is short you would probably make the most of it.

So it is with life.

In Christ, we have eternity before us. In this life on earth, however, our time is limited. Will we love God and our neighbours, follow Christ, and be his salt and light in the world?—or will we fritter it away?

Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.

The life of mortals is like grass. We flourish like a flower of the field. The wind passes over and we are gone. 

“The people who are most aware of their mortality tend to spend their lives most richly.”*

Notes:

-*Jud Wilhite, The God of Yes: How Faith Makes All Things New (New York: Faith Words, 2014), 144.
-Bible quotes are from the NIV.