Remember, Reflect, Receive // 2 Corinthians 5:21

Today, in addition to Valentine’s Day, is also Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the season of Lent, the forty-day period of preparation for the glory Easter. This is the time when we are called to remember we are sinners, reflect on our mortality, and confess we are doomed without God’s merciful help. Since we are utterly helpless to save ourselves, God came to us in Jesus, whose mission was to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). Jesus lived a sinless life but was crucified to pay the penalty for our sins and fulfill God’s wrath. This is exactly what the Apostle Paul was saying when he wrote the words in today’s verse: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Friend, Jesus took your place on the cross so you can share His space in Heaven! So, on this Ash Wednesday, let’s recall what today means so we embrace what God did for us all: (1) remember you are a sinner, (2) reflect on your mortality, and (3) receive God’s salvation through the forgiveness of sin. Let’s make this a Lenten season of meaning and hope.