lent

well guys, i am participating in lent. again! i've participated in lent for the past few years.

in 2007 i gave up ice cream.
in 2008 i gave up popcorn, chips, and crackers
i really can't remember what/if i gave up the years after that...

but this year hubz and i are giving up television shows.

now let me back pedal for a second and say that i think this post on lent is convicting and a good thought. so it made me think about what my purpose is for participating in lent...

lent typically refers to the 40 days Jesus fasted in the wilderness. we practice it 40ish days before easter. it is a time for self examination and preparation for the huge celebration that is our savior rising from the grave.

since i'm not catholic and my church/community doesn't require or really practice lent at all, i feel free to make my practice of it about exactly that... self examination, fasting, and yes, a little bit of sacrifice.

is it as much sacrifice and suffering as jesus went through... no. and that is not my purpose. my purpose is to give something up that has become an idol in my life to realize that God is bigger. and better.

food was created by the Lord and is GOOD. but Jesus gave it up to focus on his relationship with the Lord.

and while i am not perfect and my fast might look different and i am not holy enough to take all the time i used to spend watching tv and spend it in the word, it DEFINITELY teaches me something huge about my relationship with the Lord. about how he provides all i need and the thing that i'm giving up... it isn't one of those things i need.

it is good to give up something that somewhere, somehow became too much of a focus. because when we spend 40 days without that something, we are reminded how great our God is. how we need to fully rely on him because he satisfies so much more than that thing. or because he shows us that we don't need things in our life, we can get by without them. we can have a joy filled life without them.

it increases our awe of God.
it stretches our spiritual fruit: discipline.
it reminds us we can live without soda, tv, ice cream, facebook, etc... but we can't live without Jesus.


so for me, any opportunity to fast from some unintentional stronghold in my life is one i want to take.




*side note: i do think there are several things in our life that are okay and good... until we spend too much emotion or time on them... then we need to step back and adjust. the thing itself isn't bad. the way we dealt with it was. there are some things that are innately bad = sin. those things don't need to be "fasted from" they need to be given up completely.