The season of Lent is less than two weeks away. I’ve been reflecting upon what this could possibly mean; what it could mean to me and to us.
When I was a child growing up in the church. I was told I should give something up during Lent and during Lent my mother never fixed a meal with meat in it on Fridays. As a child who loved fish sticks, I thought that was just great, because you could count on having them for dinner for four Fridays in a row.
I was always willing to give something up, too.
I liked to give up things like sauerkraut. (I still don’t really like it.)
Then as I matured, I would give up things like ice cream (one of my favorite treats). It was never truly fasting in the sense where I was intentionally recognizing something in my life which might be distancing me from my relationship with God and turning away from that to return to God.
The focus of fasting during Lent or any other season of our lives is not necessarily about “giving up” something we like or sometimes in my case don’t like, but rather about working to position ourselves to grow closer to our Lord and Savior.
As we approach this season of Lent, let us all set aside a bit of time to reflect on what that might look like for us. Is there something to remove from our lives either temporarily or permanently which will help us grow closer to God?
Perhaps this year you will need to add something rather than remove something during the forty days of Lent. Possibilities include a daily act of kindness to someone else, adding a new Spiritual discipline to your day such as daily meditation, or reaching out with encouragement to someone each day.
Let’s explore together this Lenten season how we might draw closer to God!
Blessings, Pastor Peggy