Lent is a forty-days countdown from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday, the day before Easter. Because Sundays celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, they are not included in the forty days. In the Bible, the number forty appears in the story of the flood, in Israel’s wandering in the wilderness and in the life of Jesus.

After his baptism, Jesus was “in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil.” During those forty days Jesus resisted every temptation of the devil. When those forty days and all the days of his earthly ministry were complete, Jesus carried our sins to the cross.

During the forty days of Lent, we remember our need for a Savior, repent of our sins and receive the forgiveness won for us at the cross.