Six Weeks

This is actually a guest article by Bob Pollitt. Bob attends the church I lead and writes thought provoking emails like this one. This one was so well said, I just had to share it with you.

SIX WEEKS OF TIME.  Every day, hour, moment is a precious gift of time to grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus.  And yet every minute we are diverted by the emergency, immediate, pressing "requirements" of life in this world.  And then there is our constant passion for pleasure.  We are always tempted by the thought that we are missing out on the fun we deserve.  So we do the necessities and then reward ourselves with pleasures.

Tragedy is not what happens to us; it is what we miss.  While we busy ourselves building castles in the sand, we are missing out on the treasure of walking in the Spirit, following the path into the Kingdom, and growing into mature servants of the King.

For many centuries Christians have kept these six weeks leading up to Resurrection Day as a holy season of growth.  It requires honest self evaluation, and that means time to learn, meditate, pray, and sacrifice.  We sacrifice our time in the sandbox to focus on God's Kingdom and His call to serve Him.  

Many Christians today have no knowledge of this season called "Lent".  Some will say it is a word not found in the Bible, but so are other words we honor (Christmas and Easter, for example).  But who can deny that today -NOW- we need time to contemplate the eternal meaning and purpose or our lives, and to ask for another chance to change, grow and sacrifice our will (our idols) for the Lord's will.

"Time flies when you're having fun."  When these six weeks are over, will we be playing in the same little sand box, or will we turn to the real purpose for our lives: to love God and our neighbors, to love and honor Jesus by sacrificing our lives for those He loves.

When "Easter" comes, will we just enjoy our chocolate bunnies, or do we celebrate our own resurrection from our little sand box?  As the song says, "My chains are gone, I've been set free!  My God, my Savior has ransomed me!"  If you are not celebrating and growing your new life in the Kingdom, you have missed out.  And that is a real tragedy.