Journey With Jesus

So how are you doing with your Lent emphasis?  Are you on the Journey?

During the time before Easter (Lent) some folks give up something.  It is a way to sacrifice.  The practice is to identify with the sacrificial spirit of Jesus.  This is in direct opposition to the Mardi Gras spirit of consuming everything in sight.  A teenage girl wanted to break up with her boyfriend so she gave him up for Lent.  As a youngster, I always wanted to give up spinach because I did not eat it anyway.  But I could at least say that I was giving something up!  Somehow each of these misses something in the translation.

Then there are others who will take up or take on some discipline or practice.  This identifies with the concept of taking up your cross.  It is identifying with the attitude of the choice that the faith puts before us.   One guy told me one time that he was taking up playing golf on Sundays.  A woman informed me that she was going to make herself cook (and eat) a dessert for each meal during the weekend.  She thought it was a great way to remind her that God had provided Jesus for her to enjoy heaven.  So she needed to start now!  Teenagers are not the only ones who miss something in the translation.

So how are you doing?  Are you on the Journey?

Some have kept their word.   You have made a serious attempt to take your spiritual life seriously.  Hopefully you have benefited from the practice.  In some way you have experienced a growth in your spiritual journey.  God is beginning to speak very personal words to you in your faith practice.  I would want to encourage you to continue with great confidence.

Some of you have not done what you said you were going to do.  Or maybe you started only to give up or forget.  It just did not seem to make sense.  Or temptations were greater than you expected.   To you I would offer words of grace.  Start again.  Rethink your strategy and start over!  We have a God who loves to extend grace probably more than we realize.

Then there are some who have done nothing.  You never got out of the starting blocks.  Or maybe never even got to the racetrack.  So what will it take for you to know God's calling in your life?  I would simply remind you that Noah built the ark while the sun was shining.  Noah prepared for the storms and rising waters that were ahead in the days of sun.  You are invited to begin your journey.  Start where you are.  God will meet you there!

Lent is a time when we prepare ourselves for an Easter that will be unbelievable!  Make the Journey with Jesus!

Pray for me as I pray for you.