Exodus 8:16Īnd the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt. Genesis 18:27Īnd Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which dust and ashes: Genesis 28:14Īnd thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Genesis 13:16Īnd I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, shall thy seed also be numbered. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou, and unto dust shalt thou return. Genesis 3:14Īnd the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: Genesis 3:19 Yes we are dust, but we are loved perfectly anyway, as if we were sons and daughters of a high king – which we all are.102 Verses About Dust from 30 Books Genesis 2:7Īnd the LORD God formed man the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. We have EVERYTHING through Jesus’s gift to us. Sin in the end was the ONLY thing that kept us away from God, and Jesus opened those locked doors for us to walk through. Though we are dust and will return to dust, there is a resurrection and a new glorified body waiting for us at the end of our own Cavalry. We remember this during lent because Lent is a time to refocus our spirits, and receive the grace to go to God and be cleansed of our sins in preparation for the resurrection at Easter. We should focus on thanking and praising God for His goodness and giving Him glory for all He is and especially for what He has done for us. The part to focus on is that we are loved. It’s part makes the story all the more amazing. It’s understandable not to want to dwell on this- and we shouldn’t. Not because we deserve it, but because we are loved very deeply. No matter how low we sink, there is always hope because of Jesus if we repent and believe. That’s a pretty positive message if you ask me. They did it all for the dust of the earth. For God gave His only son, His son suffered willingly to save us.
With this said, we can find the positive message if we reflect a little further. Most importantly, it’s a reminder that we owe everything to Him and should do our best to give ourselves in every way possible. It’s about remembering how little we are and how loving and merciful our God is. Its further about the true miracle of miracles that is to come with Jesus’s death and resurrection, and our opportunity to repent and having faith in His goodness.
He wants us to give this gift freely back to him through prayer, sacrifice, living according to his law, and loving others as he loves us. Our avoidance of this truth can lead us further into sin and away from God, or make us lackadaisical, resulting in lukewarm faith, and careless use of our precious time. The image of dust provides a more vivid and actual truth of our humanity: We are passing away and need to be aware our time here is God’s, not our own. We are the dust into which He breathes life. It’s purpose reminds us of the fact that we are nothing without God and His mercy and love. There is a very uplifting message of love that must be taken into consideration when hearing these words. I can see the misunderstanding if you don’t look at the context of when and why it is being said. There are many Catholics who lined up to receive their ashes on Wednesday and secretly hoped the priest gives them the “positive” blessing: “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” “You are dust, unto dust you shall return” is seen by some as a bit morbid or negative, and they don’t want to think about it. “You are dust and onto dust you shall return”