Today is Ash Wednesday. That means it is also the first day of Lent, a 40 day journey to Easter. Have you ever participated in Lent? If not, would you consider it this year? I know that growing up, Lent didn’t mean much to me. I remember that my Catholic grandmother would always give up chocolate for a long time before Easter. Then…on Easter, we would all sit around and eat tons of M&M’s. I don’t know why I struggled to make the spiritual connection??!!
As I learned more about Lent, I realized that it is a time to reflect the sacrifice made on our behalf by Jesus at the cross. It has become a time that I look forward to with great anticipation as I recognize that God moves when I am fully surrendered to Him. Lent is a reminder of what it means to live fully surrendered to Him.
I have decided to use Devotions for Lent as a study guide during this time. If you are interested in joining me for this journey, please order a copy or download it to your Kindle and let’s get started!
Here are some thoughts I highlighted from my reading today…
- Lent is the season when Christians have historically prepared their hearts for Easter with reflection, repentance, and prayer. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and proceeds for forty days, culminating in Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Since Sundays are weekly celebrations of the resurrection of Jesus, the six Sundays in Lent are not counted as part of the forty-day season. Many Christians choose to fast throughout the season of Lent, but the focus is not so much on depriving themselves of something as it is on devoting themselves to God and his purposes in the world.
- The church calendar follows six seasons of varying length: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost.
- Advent focuses on the anticipation of God’s coming into the world, both in the Incarnation and in Christ’s second coming. Christmas concentrates on the birth of Christ. Epiphany centers itself in the light of God’s presence shining in the world. Lent directs our attention toward human sin and God’s gracious solution. Easter celebrates resurrection life. Pentecost helps us to remember and participate in the ongoing activity of the Holy Spirit in the world.
- “The Blood deals with what we have done, whereas the Cross deals with what we are. The Blood disposes of our sins, while the Cross strikes at the root of our capacity for sin.” —Watchman Nee (China/1903–1972)
- Lent is a plodding, definitive crescendo that leads up to the cacophonous noise of Good Friday and the gorgeous aria of Easter. It’s a season marked by deliberateness and intentionality.
- It’s difficult to grasp what our sense of entitlement does to our bodies and souls. Our culture worships at the feet of pleasure. As we “shovel it in,” we can become desensitized to our needs—the real hungers in our lives. Observing Lent can help us wrestle with the causes of our perpetual consumption. When we decide to relinquish what fails to truly satisfy, we come face-to-face with some tough questions.
- Lent challenges us to consider the honest answers to these and other soul-searching questions. It invites us to jump off the hamster wheel of consumption and experience the pinch of abstaining from thoughtless indulgence.
- It invites us to jump off the hamster wheel of consumption and experience the pinch of abstaining from thoughtless indulgence.
- The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. —Psalm 51:17