THE Bible, the word of God, has been passed down the generations for centuries and people have, for over 2,000 years, thought about Jesus; discussed, argued and written about him; who he was and what he did.

As we consider programmes like ‘Who do you think you are’ none go as far back as thousands of years.

Stories of families dispersed and lost in the past but none has withstood the test of time as the stories of Jesus and his ancestors have. Surely this indicates that the Bible has something important to say to us today.

The stories in the bible shows us how there is a God who is bigger than ourselves who allows us to be ourselves and yet is a God who is ready and waiting to rescue us and lift us up out of the depths that we often find ourselves in as soon as we call to Him for help.

How many of us call out to God, seeking something, someone greater than ourselves in times when we feel lost, overwhelmed and distraught.

How many times that when we turn to God we have found that we are then able to pick ourselves up and keep going.

When we look at the stories of how Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth, living and dying as one of us we can know that God understands what it is like to be us; the difficulties and temptations we face.

When we believe in Jesus, God offers each one of us the hope that at the end of our life there will be the joy of the Easter resurrection.

Ash Wednesday, is the beginning of the season of Lent.

It is a time when Christians spend time reflecting on the life journey of Jesus.

We look to the agony of Jesus’ death on the cross, commemorated on Good Friday knowing that there will be the joyous celebration of his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Following Jesus’ life journey is an important part of our life journey of faith.