Lent or Grace, or Both?

For many Christians, Lent is a forty-day liturgical season that begins in February that initiates the most sacred part of the Christian year ending in Easter. Lent is a season of penitence, reflection, and prayer; worship during this time is solemn and restrained. Christians meditate on the great paschal mystery -- the salvation God won for us sinners by the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The number forty signifies the time that is required for discipline, testing, and separation prior to achieving a goal or new beginning.(i.e., Great Flood– 40 days/40 nights (Gen 7:12); Moses with God on Mount Sinai for forty days before receiving the Ten Commandments (Exod 24:18); the people of Israel wandering the wilderness for forty years (Num 14:33-34); In the New Testament: Christ's ordeal in the desert fasting, praying, and being tempted by the devil (Matt 4:1-11; Mk 1:12-13; and Lk 4:1-13) and His various appearances to the apostles and others between His resurrection and ascension during which He strengthened their faith and prepared them for the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:3).

On this day, Christians focus intensely on their utter and complete sinfulness and the necessity of Christ's suffering and death to earn their salvation. Ashes are referred to many times in the Old Testament as a sign of sorrow, mourning, repentance, and mortality (2 Samuel 13:19; Esther 4:1-3; Job 42:6; and Jeremiah 6:26). Other signs of repentance include additional tithes, depriving oneself of certain indulgence, as many others. Any tool that can help me focus more on God, my relationship with Him and to become a stronger Believer is okay by me. Forty days to look upon his life, to observe, to feel the hurt, to think of others, maybe take the time to deprive myself of self indulgence to devote myself to God totally is a good thing. Do you deprive yourself of chocolates, cakes and cookies because it is in recognition to God or do you do it because you lose a pound or two? Do you give more in tithes to expect more in blessings or do you give more because you put others first? How much are you willing to sacrifice for God?

We as Christians definitely have good intentions for our fellow man; but do we think about it all the time? Also, do we limit ourselves on what we should or should not do? Jesus is not looking for self-torture, self-hatred, woe-is-me thinking, 40-day starvation and oceans of tears. Lent is for soberly looking into you and getting down to what's real. Self-hatred is not being real. How could it be right to so despise someone whom God loves and treasures? So it's not all gloom and doom. But even on the Sundays, the theme of repentance (turning from our ungodly ways) holds true. When you repent, you please God whether you fast or not, and that is what most counts for Lent.

The Grace of Jesus gives us continuous renewal beyond Lent season. We are blessed with the grace of God, not because we are good, to the contrary…the grace of God is poured upon us, not because we deserve it. The grace of God is not poured upon us based on conditions…It is poured upon us because he loves us…and we love him., we have accepted Jesus as our personal savior, our redeemer. He has poured his Grace upon us, because he has truly died for our sins! This does not mean that because we have his Grace we can go out and run amuck, when we have his Grace within us, we want to please him. We know when we have sinned – even under God’s Grace, he shows us his mercy. When we have his Grace, we know when and if we’ve hurt someone; when we have his Grace, we are forewarned that something is not good for us! We, as human are weak, Yes! But with the Grace of God, we are instructed, led, protected under God. It is good to know that our continuous renewal is pleasing to the Lord; and that our sins are forgiven by the Grace of Jesus who sacrifices himself for us. Just know this builds our strength, and with the protection and the Grace of God, we will become stronger, loving Christians.

Scripture:

3At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior. Titus 3 (NIV)