For those who observe it, Lent began yesterday and will end Easter Sunday. I grew up in a family that observed the Lenten season.
That meant we had to give up something we really liked, such as candy or sweets, as a form of sacrifice. It also meant there was no meat on Friday’s. In my house, with a mother who was not a great nor creative cook, it meant alternating between creamed tuna on toast and creamed hardboiled eggs on toast (you cannot even imagine!)
As a teenager the emphasis on Lent (at least in my family) changed from giving up something to doing something each day, such as an act of kindness. It was still creamed tuna or created hardboiled eggs on toast on Friday.
After I came to Christ at 26, everything changed. Lent became irrelevant to me. I learned that God doesn’t need me to sacrifice sweets or do an extra act of kindness. God wants me – and expects me – to obey Him.
1 Samuel 15:22 is clear. “Then Samuel said: Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.” [HCSB]
And I have come to realize the greatest of truths, that my obedience (no matter what form it may take) flows from the realization of God’s love and sacrifice for me. And that is relevant for every day of my life, not just a few weeks before Easter.
“For God loved the world [me and you] in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” [John 3:16 HCSB]
