Preparation and Lent.............

I have been thinking a lot about my personal preparation for Lent this year. Ash Wednesday is a couple days away and I am trying to reflect on the 40 days Jesus spent tempted by the devil. He overcame the devil by reciting scripture.......

Traditionally, Christians focus on the next forty days giving up something they are very much tempted by. Perhaps in a form of penance to prepare for Holy Week and what is to come.....

It is also a wonderful time to add something new, out of the ordinary......Something that draws us nearer to Jesus in this time of preparation......a new devotional, spending more time than usual memorizing specific verses, taking more time than ordinary to reach out to friends, family or anyone in need.....

As I continue to reflect on my own preparation, I think about Jesus citing scripture in the face of the devil......Can the word, the message, be that simple????? In the face of adversity, of challenges, of dry, arid seasons, is Jesus telling us just to open the words and say them out loud? Memorize them and keep them close to your heart and let them flow from the depths of your despair?

I may practice this over the season of Lent.........Perhaps speaking the words out loud will echo the meaning in a deeper form.......Maybe hearing them in my own voice, in the quiet moments of prayer will resonate.......


Wishing you quiet time, to reflect, to pray, to be thankful.........