Time is running fast! Do you feel the same way? It feels as if we are running faster toward a place where we will be. That place may be different for different people, being some place between where you are now and the place at your finish line. What might that place and setting be like for you? Some church families have tough times with their health issues; others may go through a time of satisfaction, dissatisfaction, hopelessness, concern, challenge, or hope for various reasons. You may find your life to keep running toward something in a fast forward mode, especially when you care more about that. Yet God gave us the power of choice, choice we need to make even in the midst of a tough time. At the time of an ultimate crisis to human eyes, Jesus chose God the Father to walk with Him toward the cross for the sake of those who would hear his word and love him keeping his word in action rather than seeking a human will. What is your choice at the time of a crisis in your life? Jesus said to his disciples “Did I not choose you, the twelve?” (John 6:70). He confirmed them with his choice. Jesus invites you to choose him to follow in your journey, seeking God’s will and His glory, neither human will nor human glory.
One and a half months have already passed since 2021 began to unfold its course of life. As we truly follow Jesus, we are given a new opportunity to choose: spiritual renewal and growth being ushered into a Christian season of 40 days, which is called Lent. The origin of Lent is the Anglo-Saxon word lencten, which means “spring.” This season is a time for Christian believers to prepare for Easter. Lent used to be a period of fasting and preparation for baptism by converts and later became a time for penance by all Christian believers. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (Feb. 17, 2021) and continues for 40 days, not counting Sundays. The first Sunday of Lent points them to Jesus’s temptation by Satan whereas the sixth Sunday marks Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and his passion and death on the cross. Keeping Sundays as little Easters, the journey of Lent is tempered with joyful expectation of his Resurrection.
When Jesus entered into the wilderness, he needed God’s help to defeat the devil’s temptations and upheld God’s sovereignty. Ash Wednesday reminds us that only with God’s help can we overcome our sins and sufferings as human beings because we cannot deny that we are vulnerable numerous temptations and need God’s help to deny them and defeat their forces. I invite you to think about the meaning of Lent and to reflect it on your own life. God may bless your choice while you seek to walk with Jesus in a spiritual journey.
So, what does Ash Wednesday mean to you? What does the season of Lent mean to you as a personal seeker for God’s presence? As you enter into your symbolic wilderness, my prayer is that you may participate in your walk with Jesus in this sacred journey of 40 days, refresh your heart, and renew your commitment to Jesus, and help you grow closer in your personal relationship with him.
As you enter into a special season of 40 days of Lent, I invite you to participate in a congregational spiritual journey together as 40-day Daily Bible Reading. If you choose to join this journey, click here to sign up at the top folder, or go to SIGN-UP page. The daily reading schedule is available at by clicking here. May God’s grace overflow in your spiritual walk with Jesus! God is good!
In God’s Grace,
Pastor Paul Lee