Dust
Weekly readings for Lent
Dust - Ash Wednesday
“You are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:19
We begin our Lenten devotional by remembering what we truly are - dust. Genesis 3 reminds us that our brief time on this planet starts and ends with dust. We are earthen vessels - unadorned clay pots… and yet, we are so much more.
Trevor Hudson explains, “From the moment we emerge from our mother’s womb, we begin the process of dying. To think that one day we will be nothing but ashes is a pretty grim reality. However, the fact that we are marked by the sign of the cross tells us that we are infinitely more than dust. We are God’s beloved, and nothing - not even death - can separate us from God’s love through Jesus Christ. Our dust is charged with God’s own life-sustaining and death-defeating breath. We are beloved dust.”
Why is this of such great importance? Subtly, our pride can begin to convince us that we know best. By remembering that God is the creator and we are the created, that He is the potter and we are the clay, we are reminded that we are fallible human beings. Despite our best intentions, we are “prone to wander… prone to leave the God I love”. Blinded by our pride, it’s only a posture of humility that can open us to those places in our lives that are out of sync with God’s goodness and truth.
The very word humility finds it’s roots in the latin word humus, meaning fertile ground. It’s from this fertile ground of humility that God can grow something new in us. Only through humility can we dare to acknowledge the wisdom found in Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.”
For reflection:
(consider writing your thoughts out in a journal or on a piece of paper)
As I enter into Lent, how would I describe my posture as I approach the Lord? Am I open and receptive, or do I feel closed off and defensive? Tell the Lord what you would like your posture to be…
Find a quiet space where you can take a moment to be still before God. Spend a couple of minutes simply being mindful of His great love for you. When you feel ready, invite the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any areas of pride that need attention. Write out anything that comes to mind below:
Resisting the urge to fix or control, what do you sense God is doing through those things He brought to mind? How might the Holy Spirit be inviting me to be transformed rather than simply “manage” things?
A Prayer for Humility
Gracious and holy God. I acknowledge before you this day that I am little more than dust. Formed of the earth from which I was taken, and will someday return, I am humbly reminded of my proper place in this world. You are the creator, and I the created.
Grant me the grace of humility and the gift of awareness as I begin my journey through the Lenten season. Empower me to lay aside my pride. Like the disciples, I’m quick to reply “surely not I, Lord!?” - yet my actions betray me. The symptoms of sin surround me.
With an open heart I come before you and ask that your Holy Spirit would search out any offensive way in me. Produce in me a godly sorrow for my sin that leads not to shame but to repentance.
May I come to see that your conviction of my heart is in fact an act of love.
Amen
