So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16)
Lent is a new practice for me, but in the idea of it I find so much beauty and humility. It’s a time of awareness of the very things that place a divide between me and God, the things that are hidden idols, stealing my attention away from Him. It’s a time of observance and examination.
The last few days I’ve sat with God, asking Him to show me the areas of my life where I am separated from Him. I came to realize that it is in my mundane, daily life where I’ve turned toward my own strength instead of His. It’s the areas that I feel are so insignificant and vain. These things are not important enough to bother God. I should be able to get a handle on them on my own. But God lives and specializes in the “mundane”. He is here in the mess, in all the mess. When I choose not to bring these matters to Him, by default I turn to the enemy, who in turn floods my mind with lies. Subtle temptations give way to sin.
The sin I’m struggling with is excessiveness. The good things in life- those things that are God given blessings meant for me to enjoy in moderation- have become temptations that drive me to overindulgence. It’s food, time, money, focus…. me. Sinful desires.
It’s not a matter of removing these temptations out of my life, because they were meant to be a blessing. It’s a matter of taking these temptations before the Lord and asking Him to help me receive them in moderation. It’s a matter of facing the enemy, instead of turning away, and reclaiming these God given gifts.
My idols are the things that put the focus on me- on this temporary flesh and this temporary world. I need kingdom-driven days, living in the ordinary through Christ; approaching the mess as Jesus would; honoring my body in recognition that Jesus dwells in me; approaching others through and by the love of Jesus in my heart. The abstaining and the shedding, the denying of the flesh, invites God’s presence into everything I do.
I anticipate Lent to be a time of awareness and simplification, accepting God’s gifts with gratitude and in temperance.
Jesus, You are enough. Let me accept your blessings and take only what I need. Let me surrender all things to You. Prepare my heart as I move into a sacred space of awareness.
