Today is Ash Wednesday - the first day of the 40 days of Lent.
Lent is a time when we focus on why we need the cross. It's a time of repentance. A time of being honest about our failures - the big ones and the small ones - all pieces of sin that merit our eternal existence away from God's presence.
Without Lent, Easter means squat. Without going through the depths, we can never fully understand the joy and peace that comes with forgiveness and unconditional love from our SAVIOR.
I find that in our modern-day society, it has become easy to forget our need for God. We have so many modern conveniences at our fingertips if and when we want them. If we don't like our first choice, we can always upgrade to the next and best. God has become just another commodity like the newest flat screen TVs or the latest iPad. He becomes just another "thing" that satisfies our desires when it is convenient for us. The Gospel has become a Gospel of Convenience instead of a Gospel of Necessity - a fun toy instead of our survival kit.
For this season of Lent, I have decided to give up cable television. I tend to watch a lot of TV - not because I know there is something particularly good on, but because I can. I usually justify it by saying I have three part-time jobs and, by the time I get home, I just want to sit, relax and not use my mind. TV is a really easy way to not use one's mind! TV in and of itself is not bad - I love the entertainment and the information we can gain from it - however, when it becomes a crutch and a distraction from what really matters in life, it is no longer being used for good.
I've told myself time and time again that I want to have a better habit of reading the Word daily. I desire to have a prayer life that doesn't just consist of small prayers lifted up throughout the day (which I think is a really good habit), but that there are intentional times set aside for quiet and stillness - time to not always do the talking, but listen to the Father and hear what He's been trying to tell me but I've just been "too busy" to sit and listen to him.
The enemy is good - he's really good at feeding us half-truths to get us thinking that something bad really isn't so bad. In the end, the "little" thing becomes a really big thing.
Recently I have been confronted with yet another reminder of why it is
so important to be in the Word and to be filling my mind with the truth of God. This world - as full of God's goodness and his fingerprints that it is - is marred by sin. We need to be so intentional to not let the negative influences of the world become something that entices us to do things, think things and say things that we should never have done, thought or said. Those actions, etc, don't just affect us but have the potential to affect those we love more than anything else in the world. It's the ripple effect.
So, during Lent this year, I am going to do my best (with the help of the Holy Spirit) to rid myself of the distractions of TV and, every time I just want to turn it on to "see what's on", I hope to grab my Bible instead - to grab a book and read for a while - to spend time in prayer - to spend time with my husband - to call a friend I haven't talked to in a while - to write a hand-written letter instead of an email to someone I care about. I pray that God reveals himself to me in new and very real ways this season.
Overall, though, I am SO THANKFUL for Jesus Christ and his victory over death...so even as I contemplate my desperate and daily need for him, I know that He has already won the victory so I don't have to despair of life and the pain in life - He is on His throne. Thanks be to God!
The beginnings of my red onions!
