What are you giving up for Lent?

In just a few days, the season of Lent will begin. 

I'm wondering if you have considered what it is that you'll be giving up for the next 40 days? 

The season of Lent is a time when Christians remember Jesus' 40-days in the wilderness after his baptism. During these 40-days, Jesus fasted - he did not eat - he gave up basic needs to focus solely on his Father. He was "driven into the wilderness" where, one could argue, he also fasted from people, schedules, and demands of his life. Here in the wilderness, Jesus and the Father had focused time together. Jesus' wilderness was not a punishment. The Father had just told Jesus, "This is my son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased." The wilderness was not a place of punishment or abandonment, but really a place of centeredness, identity and mission. The wilderness was also a place of temptation and a place where Jesus' motives and desires were tested. 

The 40-days of Lent begin this Wednesday and take us up to Easter Sunday. (Fun side-note: if you count the days you'll discover we have more than 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. Why? Early Christians held Sunday as a day of celebration - the day Jesus rose from the dead. So even as they fasted and prayed during the season leading up to the resurrection, they did not fast on Sunday. Sunday was celebration day!) 

One of the practices (traditions) of the Lenten season is to give up something. Some people choose to lay aside something simple like a food that they will not eat. Some people will consider habits that need to be better held in check (like drinking addictive drinks like coffee and/or alcohol) and will determine to set these aside or a 40-day detox. (Btw, if you do this, I'd recommend continuing to fast these even on your "Sunday" so your body does not get confused.) Some people choose to add something to their lives to better their relationship with God. Another idea, and what I would challenge us to do as we consider what to give up for Lent, is to focus on our relationship with God and question what we can adjust in our lifestyles to better posture ourselves to experience God.

May we consider: 

• What are those things that get in the way of our relationship with God? 
• What is something (an object, a relationship, a routine, a habit) that we turn to instead of turning toward God? 
• What is a comforting distraction we choose over attending to our souls? 
• What are those things that are holding us captive? 

I'm learning more and more that there is not much in our world that is "neutral." A good practice, relationship or routine can easily become a prison if we don't make space for self-examination and evaluation. 

Oftentimes, we desire God, but our distracted selves lean toward what is known and safe instead of following the Spirit's prompting to go into uncharted territory of quiet contemplation. 

Many of these objects, habits, routines, or relationships can be even be good, or at least began good, but may have deteriorated or spread into something unhealthy. One purpose of setting aside an object, habit, routine or relationship for a season (or adding limits to them) is to keep the Lordship of Christ above anything else that attempts to assume the title of Lord in our lives. Laying these aside for a season disarms their power and cuts their control from our life. If laying them aside is easy, then we can be reassured we are not under the grip of its power and that King Jesus has authority in our lives. More often, however, we'll feel the sting of separation and maybe even the temptation to blow off this "silly religious practice." The separation is painful for the first few days, to be sure, but the freedom we can experience is remarkable. With our space less cluttered and our souls less distracted, we find more time and focus to listen for the God's direction, behold God's beauty, or sit quietly in God's presence. During our 40-days when we feel tempted to pick back up our objects, habits, routines or relationships, may we instead choose to confess our weakness and need for our Savior, asking Jesus to once again rule in all aspects of our life.

(Note: if you choose to set aside a relationship, don't just cut someone off, but let the person know what is happening and why you are choosing to set aside or put limits on your relationship for the next 40-days. Adding healthy limits on your relationship is a way of making space for God to be part of that relationship.) 

Our Distractions are Limitless

I encourage you to be attentive to your habits, routines, and relationships these next few days as we head into Lent. Be aware of when you feel God's lead and how/where/when you choose something "easier" like watching TV, scrolling YouTube, or listening to Podcasts, instead of spending time with God. The amount of information with which we are daily assaulted clouds our ability to hear God speak. Even the simplest limit to our social media usage can make a large impact on our internal sense of God's presence and peace with us.

May God reveal to us an area of our lives that we can lay aside for His glory of these next 40-days.

Peace,

Connie