Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday. We begin the Holy Season of Lent as we count 40 days till Easter (excluding Sundays). We are less then seven weeks away.

A couple of things in regards to today. First, just a reminder that Ash Wednesday worship is tonight at Lord of Life at 7pm. Second, today we begin our church wide Lenten fasting challenge. Many of you committed to taking this fast and I pray it will be a blessing for you to grow in your faith.

Some of you have come and asked me specific questions about the fast. My first response to most of these questions has been to remember that the fast is done in Christian freedom and is not out of obligation. In other words, we should not fast because we have to, but because we want to. Second, it is not about the details, but about the spirit of the fast. That was a problem with the Pharisees in Jesus day. They got so wrapped up in the details of their spiritual practices that they missed out on what it was all about.

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind:

1) The challenge is to fast for 24 hours from dinner on Tuesday, till dinner time on Wednesday. So have dinner on Tuesday night, but avoid that midnight snack. Then hold back from breakfast and lunch on Wednesday, breaking the fast with dinner that evening. What it boils down to is essentially a 24 hour fast.

2) Take your vitamins. Feel free to take in juice or water. Limit your activities for the day. Don't go off an run a marathon. Pace yourself.

3) Use the time you would have devoted to eating for spiritual exercise be it prayer, the study of God's Word, or just quiet time with the Father. You might consider joining me at noon at Lord of Life in the Fellowship Center for about a half hour for prayer.

4) Consider using the $5-$10 you might have spent on lunch and consider how you can use that money you would have spent on yourself and use it as a blessing for someone else.

5) Know you are going to be hungry. That's ok. When you are hungry, turn your thoughts to your need for the Lord. Call out to him. Cry out to him. Ask him to be your bread of life. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

We know that fasting is not a magic wand. Fasting is not to convince God to do what we want him to do. But it puts us in a place to better hear God and listen. It helps us tune in and connect with him on a much deeper level.

Here are some final parting words to ponder from an old Lenten Hymn titled: "O Lord, Throughout These 40 Days":

O Lord, through-out these 40 days
You prayed and kept the fast;
Inspire repentance for our sin,
An free us from our past

You strove with Satan, and you won;
Your faithfulness endured;
Lend us your nerve, your skill, and trust
In God's eternal Word.

Though parched and hungry, yet you prayed
And fixed your mind above;
So teach us to deny ourselves
Since we have known God's love.

Be with us through this season, Lord,
And all our earthly days,
That when the final Easter dawns,
We join in heaven's praise.