A Lenten Focus
Ash Wednesday was this week, overlapping with Valentine’s day and kicking off the liturgical season of Lent. I didn’t grow up with Lent. When I was a kid, in my tradition, Lent was one of those extra things that Catholics did, that we didn’t have to do because we were free in Christ, and not trying to earn our way to heaven. So I was a bit surprised when I got to adulthood and discovered that Lent had become a thing across a lot of different traditions. But there is a good reason for it — it helps us have a great Easter.
Have you ever gotten to Easter, and not been ready to celebrate? Lent is a time that we remember why Easter is such good news. We take the time to reflect on “how goes your walk?” as Covenanters used to ask. We remember our frailty, our sins, and in all that we remember our need for a savior. Jesus is good news, because without our risen savior, we are stuck in sin and despair. Without Jesus, we are stuck in Lent for eternity.
So here is a lenten focus. A question that you can spend a few extra moments this Lent rolling around for the next 40 days: Why is Jesus’ death and resurrection good news for you today? You might think about those places that you haven’t measured up. You might think about your health and what it means for your time here on Earth, maybe you will think about what it means for the wars around the world, the fights in your family, and the trials that you have gone through or will go through. Maybe it is something you will experience that day, a hardship or temptation ahead of you.
Then bring those reflections as prayers up to God. Thank God for what Jesus’ death and resurrection means for you today. Some days, you might not have nothing new in your conversation with God, that’s ok. Just bring the same reflection to God, you might be bored, but God won’t be.
And hopefully, we will all be ready to celebrate in joy on Easter day.
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