Today starts a special 40 days for me and other's who choose to participate in Lent. If you don't know about lent, let me give you a little background. I love the way This Kids Guide explains Lent:
What is Lent good for? ...I just love how "simple" this makes it sound. For me, it's not so much about giving things up or making huge changes, it's more about getting myself in a place where I can worship God and truly celebrate Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.
God has given us a great and comforting gift. ... But it's easy to forget what God has done for us. We forget that it was because of our wrong that Jesus was punished. We can add to our wrongs when we try to make ourselves happy by eating lots of candy or junk food, by buying lots of toys or watching too much TV. We fill up with all sorts of things, always hoping that they will make us happy. We may be happy in the moment, but that kind of happiness doesn't last very long. We just end up wanting more. We are never satisfied by these things.
During Lent, many Christians try to stop filling up with all these other things. Instead, we try to make room for God again. When we do this, we feel nearer to God.
So what is my "give up item" or "add or change item." First of all, I have chosen to stop drinking soda. And Actually I already started that. I am in to day 7 of that! Last week I just decided I was done with soda. I hated the way I felt over how much I drank and I am tired of feeling like crud.
Also, I am using these 40 days to begin working on my weight again. For me, it is much easier to use goals then to just simply do. At the end of 40 days, I hope to have lost 10 lbs...which hopefully won't be a problem, the ultimate goal is to lose close to 30 lbs by July. Why July? My 10 year high school reunion is in July. Can I do it, I don't know, but I know that this 40 days can be a launching pad for that.
On top of all that, I just want to dig into my bible more. This is something that, again, I have already have started, my women's bible study is helping with it, but I realize that I need to make it much more of a discipline long after my bible study is over.
Want to read a really good post about Lent? Life In Grace has an amazing post on her blog about it. Click here to go to that post!
Lent is a personal choice. I chose to participate...you can but you don't have to, it's up to you! Thanks for listening to me little story about it.
Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice on the cross. Lord, help me to take these next 40 days and grow closer to you. I love you!
1 comment:
I love that simply stated description on Lent!
Those are all great things to sacrifice. Sounds a lot like my list. ;-)
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