Lent: Celebrate

My close personal friend Ruth Hersey commented today that "celebrate" seems like an odd thing to associate with Lent. It does, because we've been taught to associate Lent with the droopy-dog sort of piety that Jesus used to make fun of.

Fast if you want to, but Lent is a time to celebrate! In the Christian faith, Lent traditionally mirrors the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert following his baptism. This was a period in which Jesus began to understand his unique relationship with God, and his sense of purpose began to take shape.

That purpose proved to be not just the Cross, but more fundamentally a life fully lived for others. Read the gospel accounts, and you'll find no one so lowborn that Jesus wouldn't spend time with, no one so important that Jesus wouldn't risk offending them, no one so hated that Jesus couldn't find something admirable to praise them for, and no one so outside that Jesus wouldn't welcome in.

That's a life to celebrate, and when it's joined to yours, your life is worth celebrating as well every single day.



Copyright © 2017 by David Learn. Used with permission.


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