Lent!

Lent is the season of the church year which precedes Easter. Most people think of Lent only as a time when we give up chocolate, but that is not really the case. Let me explain.

First and foremost, Lent calls us to draw near to God to prepare our hearts for the Easter celebration. Throughout Scripture, one of the ways that men and women earnestly sought the Lord was to fast (i.e. give up eating and/or drinking certain things for a time). Fasting does not “earn extra points” from God, rather it is a form of denying ourselves in order to draw near to God.

I encourage other forms of helpful fasting: fasting from screen time, whether our phone, TV, computer, or tablet. Another is to fast from thinking or speaking in critical ways of others.

The question to ask is: what would enable me to give my attention more fully to the Lord?

Lent lasts 40 days and falls between Ash Wednesday (tomorrow, February 26) and Easter (Sunday, April 12). The actual count of days in this period is 46, because Sundays are considered mini-Resurrection days and so are feast days.

There is more to Lent than fasting, but I will write further on other topics.

Remember our Ash Wednesday service at 5pm tomorrow.

God bless you,
Jim