There is a God, and it
is not me! It is not you! We are not only mortal humans, but sinful and broken
people who need a Savior. The name of our Savior is Jesus Christ the Son of the
Living God. He comes to save us from ourselves as well as our sins and to
restore our relationship with God as our Heavenly Father.
We need the season of
Lent to confront and deal with our human condition. That is what the forty days
of Lent is about! Lent reminds us of our sinfulness and humanness that
separates us from a redeemed relationship with God. We must deal with
everything! Decisions. Lifestyles. Conduct. Witness. Choices. Habits. Addictions.
All of it!
Lent reminds us that we
cannot save ourselves, fix, repair or take back anything nor can we ever meet God’s
Holy standards on our own. We are also reminded that we can never earn our
salvation through works (doing things) nor by trying to win God’s favor through
strict adherence to religious duties or rituals.
Lent reminds us to make
the necessary sacrifices in order to bridle and subdue the sinful nature lurking
deep in our hearts. We do this by obedience, self-control, and making the willful
choice to live God’s way and not our own.
It starts with obedience
to the ways of God. 1 Samuel 15:22, “But Samuel replied, “What is
more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your
obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission
is better than offering the fat of rams.”
Lent also reminds us of
the words of God to Adam in Genesis 3:19, “For you were made from
dust, and to dust you will return.” We must deal with the fact, that we
will not live forever as a mortal human. One day, we will face death and go
into eternity to only one of two places. Lent helps us face the reality that
Hell is just as real as Heaven.
Therefore, we must deal
with the sin that brought the sting of death into this world. We must have a
season where we focus on where we fall short and even where we totally miss the
mark or are off course in our faith. Lent encourages us to take the measures
necessary to strip ourselves of any sinful behaviors and habits that draw us
away from Christ to lead us back slowly and meticulously to selfishness and
waywardness.
Because of Lent that
leads us to Easter, we can begin to live victorious lives each and every day as
people of God. We can discover, with the Holy Spirit, that we can leave our
sinfulness behind, overcome any habits, addictions, or wayward thinking to be
Holy as God is Holy (1 Peter 1:16). In Methodism, we call this “sanctifying
grace” or “going on towards perfection!” It is a daily surrender. A choice and
mindset for every moment and every experience encountered in our lives. We must
choose God’s ways over our ways.
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 a hope during
the Lenten season. Once we grasp that “now,” the greater the reason we’ll have 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, the forty days of the
Lenten season is a powerful time for us. We recognize our humanness, but don’t
allow such humanness to become an excuse for not trying harder or to be
justification for not making some type of effort to be a holy people.
We can take the season
of Lent and meditate about Jesus and all that He went through to offer Himself up
for us to die on the cross so that forgiveness, reconciliation, and eternal
life in Heaven could even be possible. Jesus gives us hope and assurance that
we can overcome sin, our past and even defeat those things that try to defeat
us.
Let us be mindful and
willing to take advantage of this crucial season to strip ourselves of the
humanness that fails us and deepen our resolve to invite holiness into our
lives that brings a personal relationship filled with victory, life, and joy
with Jesus Christ.
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...