If you are wondering ” What is Lent?” , I will try to answer that for you.
Lent is part of the season that leads up to Easter. It typically begins 40 days (not including Sundays) before Easter. Lent is a tradition that honors the willingness of Jesus to sacrifice for us. Lent is not a mandate or command from God.
At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, He went into the desert to fast and pray for 40 days. Lent is simply a choice to give something up for around 40 days. You choose something that is important in your life, or something you do daily, and you give it up for a time. Then, each day instead of doing that activity or eating that food, you choose to spend that time meditating on the goodness of God and the blessings in you life.
I know people who choose to give up candy, soda pop, dessert, alcohol, anger and swearing. It is a good time to lay down a bad habit before God. With His death on the cross standing before you, it is easier to sacrifice you vices. I also know people who have given up Facebook, cell phones(either certain hours or activities or altogether), TV (either a show or altogether),eating red meat, reading the newspaper.
Lent is not about giving up sin in your life, although Lent is a great time to reflect on where your priorities are. It is about making a conscious choice to make God Lord over your personal life. Most everyone wants the blessings of God. Yet in the hustle of everyday life we get too busy to let God lead us. We tend to choose our own way, then pray to God to clean up the mess we make of our lives. Lent is a tradition that makes us take time to reflect on where we are, and where we want to be going forward.
In some churches, the church leadership chose what everyone would give up. This tradition is why some Christians don’t eat red meat on Fridays during Lent. I’m OK with it. All the restaurants have much better fish specials during Lent. Eating meat is not a sin, it is just suppose to be remind you that Jesus is Lord over your life, not your appetites. I think choosing a personal sacrifice in your own life is more effective than a corporate sacrifice, but whichever way you choose to participate is up to you.
I was raised in a church that shunned all the traditions of the large denominations, so I didn’t even really understand what Lent was about. I did some research, and decided I liked the idea of giving up some comfort, and creating an opportunity to spend some extra time with God. We have been giving up something for Lent for the past three years. It has been a great experience for our family. Each person choosing something to give up for a time, spending an extra few moments investing in their walk with the Savior who sacrificed so much… That is what Lent is all about.