In case you’re not already aware, Lent begins today. Lent is a solemn season of fasting (abstaining from something, traditionally food) that is modeled after Jesus’ 40 day fast in the wilderness.
Lent is practiced in many churches and often looks different for different traditions, but the idea of giving up something in order to spend more time seeking God is fairly common.
I think that it can be especially beneficial to give up something that is or has the potential of becoming an idol to you. An idol is anything that takes the place of God as first in your life.
A while back I gave up working on a web project because it was consuming me. It consumed my time, my thoughts, so I stepped back from it for a week.
For Lent this year I am giving up seeking out new Twitter followers. I’ve been on a quest for the past few months to gain followers, and while I have been able to use this expanded reach for some good purposes, it does have the potential to become all about self-promotion and my ego, about self-worship.
For the sake of honesty, I should mention that there are a few ways that I work on gaining followers, and one of them in particular is what I plan to quit. Not sure about the others yet.
Are you fasting anything up for Lent? Why are you giving it up?
Being married to a Lutheran means that I’m more aware of the Church calendar than my low church background would belie. Thanks to my wife’s influence, I’ve decided to give something up for Lent. I wanted to pick something that would have a definite impact on my life. I thought (ever so briefly) about foregoing my non-work computing, but I’m in the middle of a project that needs regular attention. I’ve given up sweets before (not for Lent) and TV would be rough during primary season.
What this left me with was something near and dear to my taste buds, something that stays with me for a long time (in the form of a few extra pounds). Yes, I’m talking about beer. Although I have cut back in recent weeks, I had been drinking quite a bit of beer. I wasn’t drinking to excess (only one or two at a time), but I wasn’t taking the best care of my gut and liver either. So, I have made the decision to give up beer for Lent.
Here’s the catch: I’m challenging you to do the same. This challenge isn’t for all of you, but for those who it is intended for, you know who you are. The way it works is that you abstain from beer all week, and then on Sunday you can drink it. The point is to give something up and replace that thing with God. It’s not a test of wills, and there’s no point if you simply stop drinking beer and get upset every time you can’t have one. The idea is to have your desire for what you gave up remind you of what God gave up for us on the cross.
If this won’t do anything for your walk with Jesus, don’t do it, but I would encourage all of you to at least consider giving something up for Lent. Again, it’s not legalism or pointless tradition, fasting is an essential spiritual discipline that can strengthen our relationship with God (perhaps more on that later, but for now see Matthew 6).
Lent begins tomorrow and goes through Palm Sunday (March 16). It’s 40 days long (not including Sundays). If you’ve decided to join me, let me know on Facebook or in the comments. Remember, this isn’t a test of wills; it is supposed to remind us of Christ’s sacrifice and teach us to rely on him.
On that note, I’m off to grab one last cold one…
