Being Real During Lent-- A Caution
Today is Ash Wednesday and it marks the beginning of the season of lent.
Lent can be very special time for us but it can also be a time that we can put on an act, play a part, and just plain pretend that we are following Jesus. I say this because sometimes Lent gets boiled down to just a time of year that we give something up for forty days. We can stop eating cake, give up sweets, stop watching TV, or stop doing something else that we could do without and we think that this is what we do in Lent.
Someone may even ask you in the next couple of days what are you giving up for Lent?
This morning as I was thinking about this season and it just hit me how easy it is for us to pretend and put on a mask at this time. What we give up can be a mask. Giving something up could be a way of pretending and acting like we are following Jesus. I am not saying that we do, I am just saying that it could be easy for us during this time. We need to be aware that the rituals and practices of this season are not the end all and be all of Lent. The goal of this season is for us to understand our need for God and to live in relationship with God. The goal of Lent is to grow deeper in our love of God. The goal of lent is to unmask and uncover those places that we hide from God. The goal is to stop pretending, to stop playing, and be real about our love of God, love of one another, and to grow in relationship with Jesus.
If you are thinking about giving something up today, give something up that can really help you focus on God. Don't give it up because it is what people do at this time or because you are trying to quite anyway. This is about you and God. Maybe you want to take on something new that will focus you on God and help you to grow in relationship with Jesus. These practices and an intentional focus on God over the next forty days can have powerful impact on our lives we just have to be real about who we are, who God is, and our desire to walk with him.
What would you like to see happen in your relationship with God over the next forty days?
How would you like to have God impact your relationship with others over the next forty days?
What do you need to give to God over the next forty days so that you can experience a real, meaningful, life changing, Lent?
What can you do today to make sure that you don't just go through the motions of Lent but encounter God in Lent?
Love today.
In Christ's love and mine,
Doug
Lent can be very special time for us but it can also be a time that we can put on an act, play a part, and just plain pretend that we are following Jesus. I say this because sometimes Lent gets boiled down to just a time of year that we give something up for forty days. We can stop eating cake, give up sweets, stop watching TV, or stop doing something else that we could do without and we think that this is what we do in Lent.
Someone may even ask you in the next couple of days what are you giving up for Lent?
This morning as I was thinking about this season and it just hit me how easy it is for us to pretend and put on a mask at this time. What we give up can be a mask. Giving something up could be a way of pretending and acting like we are following Jesus. I am not saying that we do, I am just saying that it could be easy for us during this time. We need to be aware that the rituals and practices of this season are not the end all and be all of Lent. The goal of this season is for us to understand our need for God and to live in relationship with God. The goal of Lent is to grow deeper in our love of God. The goal of lent is to unmask and uncover those places that we hide from God. The goal is to stop pretending, to stop playing, and be real about our love of God, love of one another, and to grow in relationship with Jesus.
If you are thinking about giving something up today, give something up that can really help you focus on God. Don't give it up because it is what people do at this time or because you are trying to quite anyway. This is about you and God. Maybe you want to take on something new that will focus you on God and help you to grow in relationship with Jesus. These practices and an intentional focus on God over the next forty days can have powerful impact on our lives we just have to be real about who we are, who God is, and our desire to walk with him.
What would you like to see happen in your relationship with God over the next forty days?
How would you like to have God impact your relationship with others over the next forty days?
What do you need to give to God over the next forty days so that you can experience a real, meaningful, life changing, Lent?
What can you do today to make sure that you don't just go through the motions of Lent but encounter God in Lent?
Love today.
In Christ's love and mine,
Doug
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