Lent

Lent is the season that we take a step back and look at our relationship with God and how we are doing at growing in that relationship. All our Lenten observances are intended to bring us closer to God and one another. Do I need to forgive someone, or talk to them, maybe send a card to someone? These practices are meant to help us grow in our faith. It is a time to remember that God gave us faith to reach out to others, to build the body of Christ here on earth. If all I do is share the gifts with those around me then am I really building up the body of Christ? We are called to reach out to the least, the lost and the forsaken. Lent is a wonderful time to challenge ourselves to find a new way to live our faith and to reach out to someone who we do not know or someone who is hurting and offer what God has given to us.

Lent may bring up memories of giving something up, or something that makes us uncomfortable and we don’t seem to follow through with our good intentions at the beginning of lent. But what if we look at the Lenten Season as a second chance? Each year the church gives us six weeks to take a long , loving look at our lives to see if our values and priorities are in line with God’s desires for us. Some of us find that we’ve wandered from God’s plan for our lives. 
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Lent is that time that we have a second chance. Forty days to Make God the priority that he should have been all year long. The season is marked by practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. How am I doing in these areas – Do I honor God in these areas ? Is there something else that I could or should be doing?

Lent is the way that we honor God by making our faith come alive in a new way. If Jesus was able to be led by the devil to be tempted, so that he could then live the life that God had called him to, then we too need to take time to spend with God and asking what he needs us to do and what he needs us to set aside.

May this Lenten season bring you closer to God and to one another.

In Christ’s love - Rev. Steve