Inside the Heart What Journey are You On?

Formany years, I never gave a whole lot of thought to Lent, other than to wonder what to give up for forty days, which was usually coffee, or chocolate... a bit of a sacrifice I suppose, but nothing that I couldn't handle. However, this year was different; it felt like just giving up a food or beverage that I enjoyed seemed meaningless, somehow. I asked myself if it deepened my relationship with my heavenly Father in any way, or did it cause me to make more of an effort to spend time with the Lord in prayer. And my answer was that sacrificing coffee or a piece of chocolate did not really do either. In fact, if I were totally honest, it pains me to think that it did not make me contemplate the sacrifice of Jesus Christ any differently that I ever did. The more I thought about it, I realized that Lent is so much more than how I had been observing it, and it made me feel uneasy.

So, this year I decided to take the 40-day Lenten journey to the wilderness of my own pitfalls and shortcomings. I needed to look upon the model that Jesus provided for us, and how, through the Spirit, He was victorious in the very place we so comforts, we can be open to the fact that our earthly possessions don't last often fail in ... temptation. It's not easy to look upon our own lives and face truths about the things that we don't like about ourselves.

Jesus went into the wilderness for forty days alone, focusing on His Father, being led by the Holy Spirit, being fed and ministered to by the heavenly angels. We too, need to remove ourselves from anything that isn't critical during this season, spend a little more time alone and pay attention to how the distractions of this world can pull us away from God. When we deprive ourselves of 'worldly' forever, and once they're gone, it's just us and God.

With no distractions, this wilderness time can help us see how the tempter prays on us and manipulates our desires for comfort, power and favor. It will show us how our hunger can lead us away from our relationship with God, but it can also prepare us for either 'fight or flight' when we are tempted to sin. The Holy Spirit and Scripture can be our beacon of light when we find ourselves struggling.

Use Lent as an opportunity to come clean with yourself and God. I am using this season to draw nearer to Him in prayer, worship, song, and through His word. I believe that focusing on the time that Jesus fasted and prayed in the desert will help me put my life into proper perspective, remind me what a sinner I am, but at the same time, make me realize that Jesus loved me so much that He was willing to die for me. Because of His sacrifice, I'm spending more time in reflection, humbling myself, confessing my own sins and wickedness, and feeling grateful for all that He has done for me.

Not only that, God has important work for all of us believers to do. If we're not honest with the things hiding in our wilderness, we cannot do what God has set out for us to accomplish. We need to live in truth, because to God, our lives are like an open book. He knows all and sees all. It's so important to confess and let God change our hearts.

As I read my Bible, I hear the words of God directly speaking to me. Matthew 7:7 says, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you." John 8:31-32 also tells us, "So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed

Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

A Christian's journey doesn't end with Lent; the journey to discovering spiritual truth continues, but we need to abide in the study of Scripture and meditate on it. His truth really does free us... seek His truth; seek life.