The first time I gave up something for Lent was when I was a Sophomore in college.
Growing up, my church celebrated Easter, but the Lenten season was a foreign concept to me. In fact, at one point in my childhood, I’m pretty sure I was told those people who had ashes on their foreheads on that random Wednesday were heretics and to avoid them. If you’ve spent any time here, then you know what my childhood church experiences were like, and I’m sure this won’t come as a surprise.
When I went to a Christian College that was not affiliated with my childhood “brotherhood,” I met all sorts of Christians from many different denominational backgrounds. I remember my freshman year of college was the first actual exposure I had to those who participated in Ash Wednesday services. However, I was still way too much of a mindless sheep at that point to dig deeper with them about the real reason they were walking around campus with ashes on their forehead.
By the middle of my Sophomore year, I still didn’t understand the ashes on the foreheads, but I had heard just enough about Lent to know people chose something to give up that would be a sacrifice to them. My limited knowledge of Lent allowed me the very basic knowledge that this sacrifice should be something that would make a difference in your life to clue you in to a bit of the sacrifice Jesus made while he spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness.
That was the extent of my very limited knowledge, and I didn’t bother to do any additional research into the practice before proudly declaring I was giving up guys for Lent.
Listen, now that I’m a bit more mature and understand theological and spiritual things a tad more and slightly differently, I can assure you I see the absolute absurdity in my choice to give up the opposite sex during the six weeks of Lent. At the time, though, I thought I was earnestly engulfed in the spirit of Lent itself.
Oh, to be young, dumb, and naive again.
Jesus in the Wilderness
Earlier in this series, I talked about Jesus listening to the Spirit’s guidance in his life, even when the Spirit was leading Jesus into the desert to experience the ordeal of testing by the accuser for forty days (Luke 4:2). Luke tells us that Jesus “ate no food during this time and ended his forty-day fast very hungry” (4:2). This is one of those stories I feel like I read all wrong for the majority of my life. I knew Jesus went into the wilderness to fast, and I knew Satan tempted him during this time, but I missed this one key detail: Luke tells us that “It was then the devil said to him, ‘If you are really the Son of God, command this stone to turn into a loaf of bread for you.’” (4:3).
It was after Jesus had been alone in the wilderness fasting for forty days and when he was very hungry that Satan showed up to test him. I always pictured these interactions with Satan as happening throughout these 40 days when Jesus was at various levels of hunger, exhaustion, and loneliness.
That wasn’t the case. Jesus spent his forty days alone fasting in the wilderness before Satan showed up with his temptations. I don’t know what your experiences have been with fasting, but mine have been limited. I intermittent fast for my health, and I’m going to be honest–24 hours is about my max. That’s the furthest I can push it before I start getting angsty as all get out.
My fasting is about my physical health, but the fasting that Jesus models for us is about his spiritual health. His time fasting in the wilderness wasn’t about restoring his cells to their best; it was about his connection to and reliance on his Father. It was about his commitment to God’s sustenance as opposed to man’s sustenance, and it happened in the wilderness where Jesus was separated from all of his earthly distractions.
I like how both Matthew and Luke reference the fact that Jesus was physically very hungry at the end of his forty days, but his physical weakness and hunger paled in comparison to his spiritual strength. That might seem contradictory to us at first–how could Jesus still have such mental and physical fortitude after fasting in the wilderness for forty days?
I tend to think that’s much of the reason why Jesus maintained such spiritual strength even at the end of his forty days of fasting–he was intimately connected to God and relied on God completely for all of his sustenance and strength.
Our 40 Days in the Wilderness
It changed my perspective on Lent when I took the time to think about Jesus’s time in the wilderness. Jesus was without any sort of crutch, distraction, or delicacy while he was in the wilderness. He was separated from the comforts of home and even human companionship while he focused solely on his connection and intimacy with his Father.
And, at the end of those 40 days, that connection and intimacy were blatantly obvious.
That’s the point of the Lenten season, isn’t it?
It isn’t just about our willingness to give something up in the name of Jesus; it’s about our commitment to focus solely on our connection and intimacy with our Father–without distraction.
This Lenten Season begins on Wednesday, February 14th, and, technically, ends on Thursday, March 28th–Maundy Thursday, the night of the last supper, Jesus’s betrayal, and his arrest. In the Catholic Church, the Mass of the Last Supper marks the official end of Lent. I prefer to carry the season through Easter Sunday, though. It feels more complete to me that way, and I’m not Catholic, so freedom, right?
We all have different things in our lives that cause us to be distracted, that we tend to use as crutches, and that keep us from being as connected and intimate as we could be and should be with our Father. I don’t know what that thing(s) is for you, but I pray that you take a few minutes today to think about them and commit to separating yourself from them for the next 47 days so you can grow more connected and more intimate with your Father.
One of the best ways for me to stay connected is to commit to setting time aside daily to read, study, reflect, and talk to God. I’ve realized how important those things are for me to stay focused and keep my eyes on God and Christ, and I know so many of you recognize that necessity too. And, the more I’ve matured and separated myself from the rules and regulations that guided most of my life, I’ve learned not to do these things to get my gold stars for my Christian Sticker Chart but to do them because I genuinely have a desire to learn more and be connected in my relationship with God.
To help you out during the Lenten Season this year, I’ve reworked and expanded my Lenten devotional from last year into a 47-day study, and I would love for you to have it for FREE! In addition to the study, I’m throwing in a 47-day prayer journal to accompany your daily study, reflection, and prayer time, as well as a 30-day gratitude journal.
You can download them all here!
My passion project right now isn’t trying to figure out what Jesus would do–it’s observing what Jesus DID do. And, this time alone, fasting from distraction and crutches while growing in connection and intimacy with God is something Jesus definitely DID do.
Reflections:
What are the distractions/crutches in your life you need to lay down and walk away from for the next 47 days?
What scares you about giving up those things?
Download your FREE Lent Devotional, Prayer Journal, and Gratitude Journal Here!