The Plan and Lectionary

LENT

In a few days from now the period of Lent will start. The period of Lent is a time on the church’s calendar that echoes the forty days of fasting that our Lord Jesus went through in preparation for his ministry which ultimately culminated in his death and resurrection. In Lent we remember that our Lord suffered! The prophet Isaiah called him: “a man of sorrows.” He suffered during the forty days of fasting: enduring hunger, loneliness and exposed to the elements in the wilderness. He suffered during his ministry: nights alone in the mountains praying, being called “glutton” “drunkard” accused of “having a demon” labelled as “mad” and ultimately betrayed by his friend to be crucified! We remember that he did all this for us, because of our sins. If we truly believe this: sin in our lives would grieve us and we will want to repent and do better.

Lent is therefore a period of solemn reflection, repentance and pursuing holiness of character in preparation to celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord. Our Lord died for our sins, the purpose of his death and resurrection was not to make us free to sin because forgiveness is now available! On the contrary he died and rose that he might sanctify us. Consider the scriptures below:

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniuquity and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good work Ti 2.11-14

Notice that his grace makes us able to live righteously and godly in THIS PRESENT AGE. Also notice that the reason he gave himself was to PURIFY us unto himself. If we are in sync with Christ and the purpose for which he suffered and died, we will be desperate to rid ourselves of all sins and impurities. Naturally then we would engage in solemn reflection on our lives continually and repent of any sin we discover in our lives and rely on his Spirit to stay pure and holy more so in this period of lent when we specifically remember the sufferings of our Lord. To do this I humbly recommend the following.

1. Regular reading of the scriptures. Do not wait till Sunday to hear the scriptures read
2. Constant meditation on what we read. Remember psalm one talks of the blessed man as one who meditates on God’s word day and night
3. Constantly ask how the scriptures you are reading apply specifically to your daily life situations
4. Spend quality time praying DAILY morning afternoon evening
5. Practice occasional fasting. Our Lord stated categorically that his disciples will fast. The early church fasted regularly. Apostle Paul claimed he fasted OFTEN! And John Wesley REFUSED to ordain anyone who would not commit to fast twice a week! You may say: “this is the modern world we cannot fast” Just ask the secret of the churches that are growing rapidly and you will discover that regular fasting is one of their “open secrets”

The Bible says, “be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might” If you wish to be spiritually strong practice the above suggestions daily joyfully and consistently especially in this period of LENT God bless you.

Joseph Ribeiro