Why Lent Leads Us to Easter
Wednesday’s Verse:
From Genesis 3:19 ESV
“By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
We are now twenty-one days into Lent. It has been three weeks since we had ashes placed on our foreheads to remind us that we come from dust and will return to dust.
“You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” God spoke these words to Adam after the fall, explaining what life would be like in a broken world. Work would become hard, the ground would resist him, and life would end in death. You are dust, and to dust you shall return.
During Lent, we remember these words because they remind us of something we often try to ignore. We are not permanent. Our strength, our goals, and even our bodies are fragile. We live only because of God’s mercy.
But these words are not the whole story. God did not leave His creation to suffer alone. He sent His Son into our world. Jesus Christ lived as one of us and faced death.
While Adam’s story began with death from dust, Christ brings us life.
When we hear the words “You are dust,” we should remember two things. First, we are humble and owe every moment to God. Second, in Jesus Christ, there is hope even for dust. God, who made life, can raise the dead.
This is why Lent leads us to Easter.
✝️ A Prayer for Today:
Lord God, You created us from the dust of the earth and gave us life through Your Spirit. Let us not forget our weakness and constant need for Your mercy. Throughout this season of Lenten repentance, turn our hearts from self and back to You. Give us strength in Your Son, Jesus Christ, who took on mortality to defeat death for us all. . Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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