E3 Parents

40 Days

February 17, 2010 at 8:33 pm Leave a comment

Today is Ash Wednesday. It marks the first day of Lent. For the majority of my life I never really observed Lent. Sadly I was never taught about the spiritual significance of this season. Until a few years ago I never participated in observing Lent. And quite honestly still today I’m somewhat uncomfortable in some circles using the term “Lent.” I know this shouldn’t be the case, but for too many Christians we haven’t been challenged to observe many of the liturgical seasons that can have such an significant impact on our relationship with God. And Lent is one of those seasons.

Last year I posted this entry with a link to an article about Lent. I taught our students about Lent and focussed on it as a time of intense focus on God and spiritual growth. Tonight I taught about Lent again. But this time I spent more time talking about why this should be important for us as followers of Jesus. I referred to the question I asked in Sunday School last Sunday and the question I wrote about in this entry earlier this week. For me when I think about what I deserve…what’s fair…I can’t help but to want to deepen my relationship with God. I want to spend focussed time with Him. I want to spend time in intense study and prayer. I want to allow God to purge me of anything in my life that doesn’t need to be there. I want to allow Him to change the way I talk, the things I do, and the words I say. And I believe with an incredible amount of conviction that once our students accept what is fair and right and just (that they die and go to hell) any apathy that exists will be replaced with a passionate desire to know more of God, to allow God to change them, to tell others about God’s amazing grace and unconditional love. There will be a natural desire and an unexplainable urgency to live as Jesus lived, to love as Jesus loved, and to leave behind what Jesus left behind. I pray for you as a parent and for your teenager that during this season of Lent you would spend intentional time focussing on your relationship with God and that you would allow God to grow you, to stretch you, to refine you, and to change you as He sees fit. Yes, this can (and should) happen throughout the year, but let’s take advantage of this season that is before us as we prepare our hearts to remember the ultimate sacrifice that was made for you and for me.

Entry filed under: Bible lessons, Devotional Thought, Youth Ministry. Tags: Bible Lesson, Lent.