Several years ago, our pastor encouraged our church family to begin observing and celebrating the Lent season. This was not a part of the Easter season in the churches my hubby and I had grown up in, and we were curious to learn more about it. We honestly had never given thought to Lent, and were eager to initiate new Easter traditions into our home. The more thought we gave it, the more it just made sense. As a family, we spend several weeks anticipating and celebrating the birth of Jesus at Christmas... why should we give His death- which bought our salvation!- less attention? In the past, we’d talked about the importance of truly focusing our hearts on the Easter season, but had no luck coming up with a way to make it a truly special season, not just a special weekend.
Enter, Lent 2005(ish). We began to look intently into the origination of this special season and it struck a chord with us. As a family, we began observing Ash Wednesday, which begins the season, then fasting during the Lent season, which concludes with Eater Sunday. Our pastor suggested we pray about something we could give up, or fast from, during this season. A daily, physical reminder of all that Jesus gave up for us, and the desire to truly identify with Him. Over the years our fasts have ranged from certain types of food or activities, to a re-ordering of our schedules- such as, waking up earlier than usual to spend more time in prayer. We also try to read a portion of Scripture during dinner to engage our children in the season, encouraging those old enough to consider giving up something, too.
Lent should be the most sacred part of our year, as believers, but often we blow right past the weeks leading up to the sacrifice Jesus made for our sins, without really taking the time to soak in what that truly meant for Him and what it truly means for us. By observing the Lent season, we find that our hearts are more sensitive to sin in our lives and our thoughts turn more often toward the precious blood that was shed for our sins. This is the secret to a thriving, life changing relationship with Jesus. Following Christ is not a one-time event, it is a daily choice.
Just as we are called to give ten percent of our earnings as a tithe to the Lord, the Lent season is equal to about ten percent of our year. Just as the Lord promises to bring spiritual blessing to those who are faithful with our money, He will bring spiritual blessing to those to take personally the sacred Lent season. No matter what we choose to fast from, or which disciplines we seek to focus on, we must remember that nothing we do through self-denial or good works can ever earn God's favor, forgiveness or salvation. As our pastor says, “Lent is not about our giving up something to please God. Lent is about what Jesus Christ gave up to pay the penalty for the sins of the world.”
Over the next 40 days our family will do our best to identify wit Christ's sacrifice. We will fail - some days forgetting to read our passage at dinner, other days blowing our fast or losing our tempers- but even in our failures, our hearts are reminded of why we so desperately need a Savior every day or every week.
I hope you'll consider taking the next 40 days to focus on Christ, by denying your flesh in some way. If Lent is new to you, give it a try. (And I'll be sharing some posts next week to shed even more light on the origin behind the Lent season.)
May Jesus be glorified in our hearts and homes as we celebrate His life, death & resurrection!
Comments
Post a Comment