What do I know about Lent?
What do you know about Lent?
In the past years I have never really thought about Lent. I have never observed lent as a holiday that pertained to me. I have known other people that observed lent and it did not look like a good idea at all. I knew friends that were giving up chocolate. CHOCOLATE people!!!! And then I heard people say things like "you don't have to give up chocolate, you could give up something else like coke." ALRIGHT stand back. No one, and I mean NO one takes my Coke. Ok. maybe I have a few addictions that could be scaled back, but I did not like the idea of my LOVING Savior telling me that I had to GIVE UP on things in my life that may be something that I indulge in but also seem like things that are so trivial to God. Does God really care if I eat chocolate sometimes or have a coke everyday? How is that holding me back in a relationship with him? The answer is It's NOT! I will not be a better person on Easter because I gave up coke or chocolate, in fact, I would probably be a horrible person because of the withdrawls and the mood changes that would incure.
The season of Lent has become "tradition" for far too many. People fast, but don't remember why they are fasting. People give up their favorite things and can't remember why, therefore Easter comes along and these people return right back to the lives they led before lent. They are not changed in the least, until next Feb. when they robotically go through the "giving up" process all over again.
This year is different. This year I have heard from different friends what Lent is REALLY about! It is so NOT about what we give up for 40 days. It is about what we gain in those 40 days!!!! You can make sacrifices and most of us will need to sacrifice something, whether it be our food or or our time or our money, in order to make room for the increase that we will get in serving God and reflecting on how we can be servants just as Christ has served us. But I think the real importance of these 40 days leading up to Easter is how our lives change because of the way that we served others and the way that we served God during this time.
In Scriptures, the number 40 has many significant uses. We see it when Noah and his family were in the ark for 40 days and nights, when the the Children of Israel were wandering through the wilderness for 40 years, and also when Jesus was in the desert for 40 days undergoing temptations by Satan. How will you make the next 40 days significant? How will your life be changed during this season of Lent?
Wednesday, February 25
40 days
Posted by Reese at 11:33 AM
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2 comments:
What you wrote here reminds me of Isaiah 58:
"Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists...
Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD ?
Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?"
I wonder, when he wrote about fasts that end in quarreling and striking each other, if he had in mind people who give up coke and coffee and chocolate... hmmm...
I love the idea of giving yourself away during Lent. I'm excited about what you guys are doing in your household. Love you!
Great post!! We've never celebrated lent either, but these are good thoughts about the WHYS.
Although Chris did tell me the other day that he was going to give up lint for lent. No more belly button picking for 40 days.
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