“What is Ash Wednesday?”……Answer: Ash Wednesday is the day Lent begins. The official name of Ash Wednesday is "Day of Ashes." The reason the day became known as Ash Wednesday is that it is forty-six days before Easter Sunday, so it will always fall on a Wednesday. The Bible does not mention Ash Wednesday, or Lent either, for that matter.……The period of Lent is intended to be a time where sinful activities and habits are forsaken. Ash Wednesday is the commencement of this period of repentance. The Bible contains numerous accounts of people using dust and ashes as symbols of repentance and/or mourning (Genesis 18:272 Samuel 13:19Esther 4:1Job 2:8Daniel 9:3Matthew 11:21). The tradition is that the symbol of the cross is made in ashes on a person's forehead as a symbol of that person's identification with Jesus Christ. A similar concept is mentioned in Revelation 7:39:414:1 and 22:4.……Should a Christian observe Ash Wednesday? Ash Wednesday, along with Lent, is observed by most Catholics, most orthodox denominations, and a few Protestant denominations. Since the Bible nowhere commands or condemns such a practice, Christians are at liberty to prayerfully decide whether to observe Ash Wednesday or not. If a Christian decides to observe Ash Wednesday and/or Lent, the important thing is to have a biblical perspective. It is a good thing to repent of sinful activities, but this is something Christians should do every day, not just during Lent. It is a good thing to clearly identify yourself as a Christian, but again this is an ongoing identification. It is unbiblical to believe that God will automatically bless in response to the observance of a ritual. God is interested in our hearts, not in us observing rituals.