My timeline and newsfeed have been filled with that age-old question that happens every year 46 days before Easter
"what am i going to give up for lent?"
every single year, it happens. I do it too. Last night, I thought I knew what I was doing, but still had to decide before I fell into a beautiful night of sleep. But because I was undecided yesterday, I tried to stock up on everything - I slept in, watched lots of TV, obsessively checked Facebook/twitter, decided on coffee for breakfast, reveled in pizza for lunch, and may have baked a few too many goodies for Bible study so I could gorge myself. Just maybe. Okay, that may sound like every other day, but I really went overboard - the ultimate Fat Tuesday.
So now you're probably asking you what I'm doing for Lent. I went to a Lutheran elementary school, and every year, it seemed like we were trying to trump each other. I mean, we knew Lent. It was taught to us in a wonderful way and giving up something was a great way to teach us to seek God. But these words stick out in my mind:
“Even now,” declares the LORD,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the LORD your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
and not your garments.
Return to the LORD your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
(Joel 2:12-13)
"Rend" means tear. In the Old Testament, people would tear their garments out of anguish as they mourned over their sins. But sometimes, rending garments became a public show that meant nothing on the inside. So here's what God I think God is saying to the people.
Fast, weep, and mourn - you need to do those things to return to me wholeheartedly. But don't tear your clothes as some empty way to show how holy you are. Tear your heart. May you be heartbroken over your sins.
So this year, here's what I'm encouraging you to do - take this time to be truly repentant over your sins. Wholeheartedly return to God. Give something up that will help you remember how grateful we are to be for the forgiveness of God. Or even, take something on that draws you closer to God. Direct it towards God and your love for Him. But don't make a huge deal of it to others. Don't tear your clothes without tearing your heart. Hide your commitment to God in your heart and stick to it - for Him, not others.
Or like I read elsewhere--if you don't do so well giving up things, add a blessing--a blessing to others. The one example I saw was a lady that was going to write a letter of encouragement every day to someone different for wach say of Lent. Ultimately she's sacrificing her time for God even though it's not obvious to us humans.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely Susan! I think time is often a major sacrifice that we can give to God - in fact, I have been focusing on that more than food/media in the past few years for Lent and it can be a challenge too!
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