Today begins the season of Lent which is a season of purposeful reflection leading up to Easter. It's also a season where some people give up something. Some people give up coffee. Others give up social media or TV. Some might give up smoking or another bad habit they really know they should kick. But Lent is meant to be more than a second shot at New Year's resolution style behavior modification.
While changing bad habits is always a change I would encourage in people, if it becomes the end goal of Lent, then we've lost the path somewhere along the way.
While changing bad habits is always a change I would encourage in people, if it becomes the end goal of Lent, then we've lost the path somewhere along the way.
I did a devotional during Lent several years ago with the subtitle, "Fasting from the world and feasting on God." I think that's a great perspective to bring to the season of Lent. Anything that I give up for Lent should, in some way, help turn my thoughts toward God in more intentional, reflective ways. A social media fast might mean that instead of spending a half hour (or more) on Facebook, I spend a half hour (or more) reading the Bible and in prayer or committing some of that time to volunteering somewhere. Fasting from coffee or from a particular kind of food might mean that when the craving hits, I take a moment to acknowledge in prayer that I want God more, that God is sufficient for me, that He is my food and my drink and that no sacrifice I make compares to that which was made for me.
If observed this way, Lent can be a powerful time of communion with God that makes the culminating celebration of Easter that much more meaningful because we've changed our normal rhythms for the new, God centered rhythms. I would love to invite you to consider whether God would have you fast from something in order to feast on Him during this season.
