The Lenten season, often seen by charismatics as a Catholic tradition, is far more than a time of fasting, abstinence and deprivation.
Much like Advent ushers in Christmas, Lent is the preparation we make in anticipation for Holy Week and ultimately, Easter. It's a time to be intentional about our life with deliberate actions and withdrawals that draw us into the awareness of the presence of our Saviour in this season.
Lent is far more than a sacrifice… It's a lifestyle
Lent is not somber, dull and restrictive... It's a beautiful season of being close to Christ.
Lent is slowing down
Lent is reflection
Lent is an opportunity to reset
To reset into Christ, that He had to die and that He indeed did rise.
In the Liturgical calendar, the time of Lent is the colour purple (Apart from Palm Sunday and Good Friday). Purple symbolises preparation just as much as it does royalty… we are indeed preparing for the King.
So how can you observe Lent in a way that feeds and fuels your faith?
~ Start by silencing the noise, hustle and hurry of the world...
Choose to listen only to that which redirects your eyes to Jesus.
~ Read the Word, and read the word again and again...
Pick up different translations and versions. Fill your heart and mind with the truth of God’s Word.
~ Write the Word...
One of the best ways to do this is to choose one of the Gospels and write out a few chapters each day. There's something so fulfilling about this action of repeating Scripture yourself.
~ Replace comforts with Christ.
Become aware of moments when you lean to earthly satisfactions that only act as band aids over the wounds... Journal these moments with the Lord and submit them to Him to grow in the desire for Him to become the one you turn to. Ask Him to show you how you can replace unhealthy and unhelpful habits with spiritual disciplines from His way of life.
This shouldn't become a legalistic time of religious duties, but a Sabbath moment of heartfelt devotion. To find the joy of stepping into the fullness of the time, you may decide to fast from something, to remove a fleshly clutch that may stand in your way of Jesus... this could be anything from your lunch meal to chocolate, to refusing to complain or deciding not to buy any new clothes this season...
... but far greater than removing things is how you will fill that void. How will you find more time for communion and connection with the Lord? Where will you spend more time in prayer and meditation?
This lent, decide to choose a greater faith walk than before. Look at your life now and your life where you would like to be 40 days from now. Choose to really step into understanding the weight of the Passion of Jesus and allow it to affect your life, to plant the seeds that will grow into an abundant harvest of faith fully grounded in God.
And how fitting it is this year that Ash Wednesday falls on Valentines Day. A day of remembering that we were created from the dust to be loved by our creator. That we were created to love God and to love others and that for the love that God had for His world, He sent His Son to die for us.
What greater love story could be told than that of a King who would lay His life down to have you in His Kingdom.
Ash Wedensday, for those who may be unfamiliar with it is the day that marks the first day of Advent. Many will attend mass on this day where they will recieve a cross on their forehead made from ashes. These ashes come from the dried palm leaves from the previous years Palm Sunday. They symbolise our own birth and death. When the priest places the ashes on your head, he will say, "Repent and believe in the Gospel."
On a day like this, I like to read the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark and how it sets in motion the story of Jesus beginning with John the Baptist. It introduces us to Jesus through the one who prepared the way for Him…
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”
“a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptised by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptise you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.”
Mark 1Happy Lent
~ X ~
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