Why Lent?
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.” (Hebrews 12:2)
With today being Ash Wednesday and the start of a 6-week period of time which the Christian Church has for a long time observed as Lent, here’s a portion of God’s Word to help us all understand and remember what Lent is all about.
You may have heard or been asked in the last few days “What are you giving up for Lent?” In one sense there is nothing wrong with this as people, for a time, get rid of things which they see as a hindrance for their faith. But I have always wondered – why if something is such a hindrance, do people only give it up for a time and then let it come back into their lives again? Wouldn’t you want to permanently rid your life of that distraction or disturbance?
You may remember that several years ago I shared with you each of the 40 days of Lent (remember the Sundays for the next 6 weeks are technically not part of Lent) a Bible passage which helped us focus on some of the thoughts for Lent, particularly our repentance of our sin and God’s full forgiveness in Jesus.
What I plan on doing this year for the 40 days of Lent is sharing with you 40 Bible passages and devotions which focus on things that you don’t want to give up for Lent, or any part of your Christian life.
So did you find the word in the verse above for Ash Wednesday? The writer to the Hebrew Christians reminds us that Lent is all about one thing, Jesus, who is he is and what he did for us. Some Christian Churches have a special service each Wednesday in Lent to allow for this extra special focus. There are also devotional series out there with special Lenten devotions to help you focus on what all Jesus did to win you forgiveness and heaven.
There is one more thing we need to remember as a part of all of this. We need to make sure that whatever we do for this extra special focus in Lent is not somehow sending that message that we are doing something for Jesus or our salvation. The reason the writer to the Hebrews tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus is because he is “the author and perfecter of faith.” He alone is the one who gives us forgiveness and heaven. We can’t do anything. We are totally reliant on his perfect life providing a substitute for our imperfect life and his innocent death making complete payment for our sins.
One of my favorite Lenten hymns serves as a perfect prayer for this Ash Wednesday thought: Jesus as we ponder now on your Holy Passions. Give us Lord your spirit now, guide us in our meditation. Amen.
God’s blessings to you this Lenten season and always!