Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned
from the Jorden
And was led by the Spirit into the
desert,
Where for forty days He was tempted by
the devil.
He ate nothing during those days…
Luke 4:1,2
Today is Ash
Wednesday, the beginning of Lent - a forty day period leading up to Easter
Sunday. It is a time of commemoration of
the forty days Christ spent in the desert, directly after His baptism and prior
to His public ministry. The purpose of
Lent is to prepare for Easter through prayer, repentance, almsgiving, and
self-denial. “Giving up” something for the
forty days of Lent has become an integral part of practicing self-denial.
· * The
early church, particularly Lutheran, Catholic & Anglican, abstained from
eating meat; for some, this extended to not eating meat, eggs or dairy.
· * Giving
up chocolate is a popular choice in today’s church. It should be noted that Thomas Aquinas
authorized the continued eating of candy during Lent because sugared spices are
digestive aids on a par with medicine, rather than food.
· * Abstaining
from Television, Movies and/or Gaming systems.
I have read wonderfully hilarious stories regarding families with
children who have attempted this.
· * Abstaining
from all Social Media: Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, etc.
· * The Lent Event: Donate the value of what ever you give up to a local charity such as the Chesterfield Food Bank.
After reading many different suggestions for self-denial, I invite you to ponder this one:
If there’s anything we should give up this time of year,
it’s our sense of superiority: either to those
outside the church,
or those inside the church who do things
differently than we do.
Author Trevin Wax
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