Forty Days of Preparation
Forty Days
A Season of Gospel Preparation
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. - James 4:8
Today is Ash Wednesday. The first day of the season in the church calendar called Lent. The word Lent originates from the Old English word “lencten” which means “season of spring” and is the forty days of preparation leading up to the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection on Easter. In the Old Testament, Moses spent forty years in the wilderness as the LORD prepared him for his mission of delivering God’s people from slavery of Egypt to a promised land. In the New Testament, Jesus spent forty days fasting in the wilderness as His Father prepared Him for his mission of delivering God’s people from the slavery of sin to the promise of eternal life.
For some, Lent is a foreign language, spoken by those who come from a staunchly traditional background. We have no concept of what it is all about so we just leave well enough alone. For others, Lent is just a religious exercise of “giving something up” in which people flaunt their merit badges of holiness or participate in mindless legalism. So we avoid it altogether.
Thankfully, the gospel of Jesus Christ frees us from having to earn favor with God since Christ alone is our only hope of right relationship with God. So we need not fear Lent as a time of lifeless tradition or legalism. We can instead see Lent as a dedicated time of spiritual preparation for the followers of Jesus. It can serve as a focused time of “turning off” (fasting) and “putting on” (prayer) in order to cultivate the spiritual soil of our hearts, minds and bodies in order that our vision become more focused and our hearts re-tuned to Christ’s powerful work in spite of our obvious weakness.
There is no one prescriptive as to what might be “turned off” or “put on” during this season. Turning off might mean taking a break for these forty days from streaming services in order to help draw our attention away from the world’s temporary offers to heaven’s eternal Gift. Putting on might mean rising fifteen minutes earlier each day for a dedicated time of journaling, scripture study or silent prayer. Take some time to ask the Lord to lead you as you consider what He might use to draw you near to Him during this season.
These times of focused prayer and fasting can serve as course corrections to double-minded people. Times when we ask God to search and know our hearts. To tune our hearts to sing His praise. May this season of preparation serve to renew our hearts to the joy we find in the good news of the gospel!
Thoughts for reflection:
What concerns or cautions do you have about Lent? What excites or intrigues you about Lent?
What might you consider “turning off” during this season? What might be “put on?” What would make these things difficult to practice?
Take a few minutes to meditate on James 4:8. How does “turning off” and “putting on” relate to this passage?