Giving Something Up for Lent

This coming Wednesday is the beginning of Lent. Lent is a season in which we consider the death of Christ. For 40 days prior to Easter, we contemplate the price that was paid for our freedom. We consider our sin that made Christ's death necessary. We allow sinful patterns to become entrenched. Lent gives us reason to pause.

The Lenten season was formally established in the 4th century. Athanasius was a church leader in Alexandria, North Africa. He was concerned with the cheap grace of his day. People were quick to join with Christ in his life. But far fewer were willing to join with Christ in his suffering (Phil. 3:10-11). It was easy for the significance of Good Friday to be lost in the celebration of Resurrection Sunday.

One common Lenten practice is fasting. Fasting is a way of removing our dependance on other things and reasserting our dependance on God. Fasting has a way of revealing how much we look to other things for satisfaction. We might skip a meal inadvertently. But when we consciously decide to skip a meal, it consumes our thinking. We realize how important food is in our lives.

A fast can be full (i.e no food) or partial (i.e no meat or sweets). And of course the principle can apply to more than food. There are many things that have a potential to be controlling influences in our lives (i.e computer games, coffee, facebook, ect.). The common practice of "giving something up for Lent" has its roots in the discipline of fasting.

-Pastor Jeff Burr- Forest Hills Baptist Church