The Season of Lent

Romans 5:8 “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” It is truly amazing to know that God didn’t first put us on a 30-day trial period to see if we could “handle being a Christian” before he would save us.

In fact, he sent his Son, Jesus, to us with the risk knowing there was a good chance that he would be rejected and not one, single person would accept his offer of salvation. It was quite a sacrifice. It is what we focus on during the season of LENT.

LENT comes from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “Spring.” What happens in Spring? Well, for one, we “Minnesotans” are at least hoping the Winter snow melts away. But, most importantly, the earth comes back to life! Grass becomes green, trees bud and the leaves return, and flowers grow and bloom.

That is what Lent is about…about making sure we are spiritually and mentally prepared (ready) for the “coming back to life” of Jesus after he died on the cross! It is making sure we have made a conscious decision to acknowledge our sinfulness, to repent, reconcile our hearts with Jesus to be our Lord and Savior.

Lent is a 40 day period that starts on Ash Wednesday (March 6, 2019) and ends on the Saturday before Easter Sunday (April 20, 2019). We use this time to focus on the condition of our soul and the current depth of our relationship with God. We, like Spring, want our spiritual lives to “come back to life” now and after we die. So, we use the time of Lent to focus on our mortality and our sinfulness with special attention placed on self-denial, penance and prayer.

We use the time to learn about all the things Jesus went through…all the things he taught us…all the things he suffered so that, if we want to, we can be “born again” and begin to come alive spiritually with Jesus, and to anticipate living in his presence forever in heaven. Christ in us and the Holy Spirit empowering us, we can begin to live victorious lives each and every day as people of God.

If you are not sure where to start, I suggest getting the New Testament book of John, and begin making your way through chapters 11-19 to hear about the Lord’s passion and death…this will give us a better understanding and greater reason to celebrate and be joyful on Easter Sunday when we hear about how Jesus rose from the dead, defeated death, walked away from the grave and now lives again….forever!

So, for the time that remains in Lent, let us think about Jesus and all that he went through and offered up for us in order to die on the cross for us. Let us be mindful that we will not live forever in our human earthly bodies…but because of Jesus, just like the grass, trees, and flowers in Spring time…after we die, we’ll “come back to life” in Heaven with Jesus where we’ll live forever and never, ever die. That is very good news!

Learn from Lydia

There are a lot of interesting mentions of women in the Bible. Whether it is the Old Testament or New Testament, there are many strong, yet oddly missed, lessons from women that we can familiarize ourselves with to strengthen our faith. One such woman is named Lydia. She provides a very powerful lesson for us. We find one particular mention of her in the book of Acts. Acts 16:14 , says that Lydia “reverenced God, and the Lord opened her heart to accept what Paul was saying.” Lydia is actually a significant person in the New Testament. She is described as “a dealer in purple goods” (Acts 16:14). Pointing that out is quite a clue. Dealing in “purple goods” was considered a luxury in the ancient world. It is probably safe to say that she was both a woman of great financial means and able to deal successfully with the influential people of her time. She was also noted as having a great gift of persuasion. I think she might have been the only perso...

Cross of St. Peter

One of the strongest defenses of investigating any situation is making sure that we gather as many facts, witnesses, and information on the subject at hand. We don’t want to jump to any rash decisions or conclusions and find out, later, that we were wrong. The Bible has a very strong passage to support taking the time to gather facts to make a truth-filled decision. Proverbs 18:15 , “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” We cannot afford to jump to conclusions on unfounded rumors or quickly repeated gossip. I have witnessed one incident of such false information that has spread like a raging forest fire due to individuals not doing their homework on the subject matter. I am talking about some recent “observances” during the funeral of Pope Francis. During his funeral, several individuals noticed that there were “upside-down crosses” displayed in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Many took to social media in a wild frenzy to associa...

Tetelestai!

Just before Jesus gives up His spirit on the cross, He utters a very powerful word. The word that He cries out is “ tetelestai” (tih-tellis-tie). When literally translated, this word means, “It is finished.” It can also refer to something completed or accomplished. The word occurs in John 19:28 and 19:30 and these are the only two places in all of the New Testament where it is found. In the John19:28 passage, it is translated, “After this, when Jesus knew that all things were now completed , in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, he said, ‘I thirst.’” Two verses later, he utters the word himself: “Then when he received the sour wine Jesus said, ‘ It is finished ,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” Did you know that the word tetelestai was also written on business documents or receipts in New Testament times to show indicating that a bill had been paid in full? The Greek-English lexicon (by Moulton and Milligan) sa...

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