Some Thoughts on Lent

[If you read my blog last year, you will recognize this post!]

Lent is the 40 days we spend in preparation for Easter.   It is a time of penance and discipline, a time of reflecting upon Christ's suffering and death to save us from sin.  
I found a great devotion by Brian Prior and I would like to share a piece of it with you.  

One of the primary opportunities Lent provides for us is a time of self-examination. This is a time to take an honest look at our lives and to discern what is helping us to grow in our faith and what is holding us back. It may be the perfect time to discern what we leave and what we take, what gets done and what is left undone. Those choices will ultimately show where the real treasures lie.

He included some scripture from Matthew 6.  Verses 1-4, "Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” 

Verses 19-21,"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."   

It is important to remember that whatever you are doing for Lent, you should be doing it for yourself and strengthening your relationship with Christ, regaining focus on what He has done for us.  To me, the giving up or letting go of something has always served as a reminder.  When I am tempted, I should think of why I have sacrificed whatever it is. I'm giving up the same thing that I did last year -- Facebook.  It can be such a distraction sometimes.  So, instead of keeping up with my 700+ "friends," I will be catching up with Jesus and getting to know Him better.  :)