Lent Observations

I trust your spiritual journey from Ash Wednesday to Resurrection Sunday has been an encouragement to you but I also pray that it has been one that has caused each of us to stop and think about our relationship with Christ. I certainly believe that each of us needs to strengthen our relationship with Christ in lieu of the many events that are taking place in our world both personally as well as collectively. I sense that call from Heaven in my own personal life as well as feeling led to issue that call to you today. I have spoken with several people this week who feel very overwhelmed by that which is taking place in their lives at this particular moment. BUT we must remember that there is a "place of refuge" (Psalm 91) to which we can run.

This passage in Luke 19:10 was placed in my spirit this morning. Let me remind you of what the Word of God says, "for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." The words "has come" grabbed my attention this morning. Christ came from Heaven with a divine mandate. Christ came to make contact with and reach out to sinful humanity. Christ came to reveal the Love of the Heavenly Father. Christ came to redeem us so that we could live out the principles that would be demonstrated in our lives through the development of our relationship with Him. Lent can serve the purpose of reminding us of Christ and the examples that He set before us on His journey on planet Earth. But Lent also reminds us of the need to put into practice those principles that Christ demonstrated for us.

I would like to remind you of two of the principles that God spoke to me about.

  1) Jesus was a man of prayer. He did more than just talk about prayer. He prayed!! We can read throughout the pages of the Gospel where Christ would separate Himself from His disciples and go pray. The disciples even asked Jesus to teach them to pray. Jesus was known for His miracles but the Bible also reveals that He was a practitioner of Prayer. Prayer is one of the core activities of the Christian life; the Bible commands us to pray continually and assures us of the effectiveness of our prayers. Jesus himself took time on the night of his arrest to call out to his Father in prayer. Are we following in the example that was set by Christ? Would you and I be considered a person of prayer? 

  2) Jesus was a servant. Once again let us got to the Bible and see what it reveals about Christ. Matthew 20:28, "just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give his life a ransom for many." The desire to serve has always been at the core of Christian ethics. The Bible reveals many different scenarios in which Christ served but it also reveal those moments in which His followers/disciples also served. Lent has reminded me of the need to serve but it has also reminded me of the need to serve for the right reason. I must not serve just to gain the accolades and approval of man. I must serve for the approval and acceptance of the "audience of One" (Our Father which art in Heaven...). There are blessings in serving others. I encourage you to allow the season of Lent to open your eyes to areas in your life where you can serve. It may even start in your own home as you look at your family through "fresh and open" eyes of care, concern and compassion!!

Enjoy your pursuit of God and enjoy your daily walk with Christ!!