Lent is a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, prayer, and service. The intention of Lent is to set aside time for reflection on Jesus – His suffering and His sacrifice, His life, death, burial, and resurrection. This period of fasting and discipline is a way of recalling Jesus' 40-day fast in the wilderness. Some Christians "fast from fasting" on each Sunday of Lent, and celebrate the resurrection and hope of Jesus.
Lent can be viewed as a spiritual spring cleaning: a time for taking spiritual inventory and then cleaning out those things which hinder our corporate and personal relationships with Jesus Christ and our service to Him.
There are three basic tasks that traditionally have been associated with Lent. These are fasting, prayer, and almsgiving (or service).
When we "give up something" for Lent, we embrace a form of fasting. Whether we abstain from a certain behavior, food, or media, by giving it up, we learn to control a particular part of our lives, which leads to greater self-discipline even when Lent is over.
Lent is a good time to develop or strengthen the discipline of daily prayer. Spending regular, focused time listening and responding to God is important always, but Lent is an ideal time to cultivate this discipline and seek to hear God's voice.
While Lent is about giving up something, it's also about putting something positive in its place. Traditionally, Lent has been a time of serving the poor. For Christians this is a year-round calling, but Lent is a good time to find ways to get involved and step into a lifestyle of service.
Join me this season of Lent. I will be posting every day, as we seek God and respond to Him.
Matthew 4:1 “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness...”
God, for so much of my life, I imagine that Your principle role in my life is to smooth things out – to make things work better, more efficiently, more painlessly. But the Bible offers up a peculiar and different account of what You occasionally intend to do with the ones You love – to lead them into the wilderness. Lord, in this Lenten season, help me to envision the wilderness wanderings of my own life differently than I have in the past – not as obstacles to Your work in my life. Instead, help me to see the wilderness as a way in which You may choose to work within me.
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