Thursday,
February 14 Romans
10:8b-13
Whitney
Booth
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is the
Lord of all and is generous to all who call on God (Romans 10:12).
Most seasons that we celebrate come in shinier
packages than Lent. Advent invites us to
make room in our hearts for the coming Christ and fills us with hope for the
baby that will be born in the manger.
Lent, on the other hand, is dreary from the get-go. We prepare our hearts by intentionally
entering the dark wilderness, seeking to experience temptation as Christ did
and to understand the hopelessness that the Israelites felt as they wandered in
the desert. You just don’t see people
beating down the church doors to fill their hearts with this kind of holiday
spirit.
Some of us
will give up something or maybe take on a practice to distinguish this journey
from the year’s other 325 days. Some of
us may already be reconsidering our Lenten sacrifices as we are greeted by day
two of waking up early, not drinking Diet Coke, etc. We intentionally make our lives more
difficult in order that we might grow closer to God. As with my New Year’s resolutions, I tend to
set myself up for Lenten failure, turning my contemplative journey toward
Easter into a misguided forty-day tour of the desert. I wonder why I put myself through it
all.
Because of
God’s infinite grace, my personal attempts to survive a season without eating
red meat or listening to Hanson (yes, that’s a real-life example from when I
was in sixth grade, and it was quite
the sacrifice) are not my permanent identifiers. And I’m pretty sure God doesn’t know me as
the girl who only made it three days without sweets before eating a Thin Mint
(a tragic coinciding of seasons). For
many of us, the thought of adding sacrifice and suffering to the wilderness of
everyday is simply unimaginable.
However we
find ourselves meandering this forty-day journey, let us rest in the peace that
God is always drawing near to us through the community that we share. We do not walk alone in the wilderness, but
lovingly wander alongside one another as living reminders of the presence of
God in our midst.
Prayer: Loving
God, help me to remember that it is not achievement or merit, but relationship
with you and with one another that lights my pat in the wilderness. Thank you for answering us all—no matter
where we are—when we call upon you. Amen.
Daily Challenge: Spend
some time today praying for and/or visiting someone for whom wandering in the
wilderness if not a seasonal practice, but an ongoing reality.
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