Lent

In the Bible 40 days is a significant period of time Moses and Elijah spent in 40 days in the wildreness, the flood occured over a span of 40 days and nights, Jonah gave the Ninevites 40 days to repent, Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days while being tempted, and the Isrealites spent 40 years years wandering around trying to find the Promised Land. Lent is a period of fasting from both food and activities. It is a time of repentance and refletion. In today's society people usually give up something that they enjoy and devote the time they would have spent doing that to doing something for God, or donate the money they would have spent to a charity or the Church.

"Lent is a way to place ourselves before God humbled, bringing in our hands no price whereby we can ourselves purchase our salvation. It is a way to confess our total inadequacy before God, to strip ourselves bare of all pretense to righteousness, to come before God in dust and ashes. It is a way to empty ourselves of our false pride, of our rationalizations that prevent us from seeing ourselves as needy creatures, of our "perfectionist" tendencies that blind us to the beam in our own eyes."

I love that. Lent is time of humility, repentance and of waiting. It's a time to dig deeper into the heart of God and express your utmost thankfuness for what he has done for you. You can not do anything to save yourself, only Jesus can save you. Jesus gave up his whole life for you. That's why I am doing Lent this year. Jesus gave up his whole life for me, but not only that. He spent most of his time here on Earth being ridiculed and rejected by the very people he came to save. By me. He lived his life as a light amoung the shadows. If Jesus did that for me, if he died so that I might have life, then shouldn't I use that life to show him how greatful I am? That's something we should be doing everyday, not just around Easter time.