This is a message I wrote in March 2022, and it seems well worth repeating as we begin the season of Lent 2023.
It is exactly 2 weeks since Ash Wednesday, which signals the beginning of Lent. I am wondering how your Lenten season is going? More specifically, I am wondering what you are fasting or giving up for Lent? And how is that going for you? Are you still on target? Have you slipped up any? Is it easy for you to do or really hard?
It is not always easy to decide what to give up for Lent, especially when it should be a sacrifice to do without. There have been years when I didn’t give up anything. This year I am giving up my morning time on FaceBook. Not a huge sacrifice but something I can certainly do without during breakfast.
But the real question for all of us is what are we filling the fast with? If you gave up something for Lent, there is a hole there. What are you filling it with? I have given up the breakfast time on FaceBook so I can spend more quality time with God. I found a different devotional to read which is focusing my mind more on prayer.
This gap could possibly be filled with another activity, another food item, or another prayer. But are we consciously filling that time with something that relates to the definition of Lent?
Lent is sometimes called the “Great Fast.” It’s a period of time in which Christians are meant to give up some comfort or adopt some spiritual practice that leads to self-examination, repentance from sin, and, ultimately, renewal of the soul, all in anticipation of greater dedication to serving others and God in the coming year. Lent is a time to turn away from sin, mourn death and brokenness, and anticipate a day when the broken world will be healed.
While the world seems to focus on what to sacrifice or give up during these 40 days before Easter, let us consider what to fill that "fast" with and to use it to dedicate ourselves more to God and serving others. After all, Jesus gave His life for us. What can we give for Him?
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
Matthew 22:37-39
Thanks for stopping by,
Rachel