Are you "bent" towards "lent"?

Every year there seems to be a growing trend of evangelical Christian believers celebrating "lent" in some form.  I have found it very interesting and I am sure that a few of you have as well.  As a child I can remember being told that only the "Catholics" practiced "lent" and that it was not for us.  Ever since that time I have been aware and listening as people who are not "catholic" celebrate "lent".  If you want to know about "lent" then feel free to use this link to wikipedia about it.

The concept of denying yourself as a part of your Christian Faith is found in many places in the Bible.  We could take the time today to go through them all but we wont.  Please feel free to do your own study on that.  Instead I want to talk about why as a Christian I would fast or deny myself for a period of time.

We are to understand that the Bible clearly teaches that our works will never save us, they will never clean us up enough for God to be pleased with us.  My works, whether they be of activity or sacrifice will not erase my sin.  Only Jesus and His completed work can provide salvation, freedom, cleansing from sin, placing us into God's family being reconciled to Him forever.  So "lent" or any other fasting and denial will not save us, in full or in part.

So what then?  Why should we fast?  We should fast and pray and deny ourselves at times because we need to put aside our humanity.  We need to keep our selfish, sinful, flesh in check.  By doing this we also use such time to with greater intent and clarity focus on God.  This type of fasting and prayer is for the Christian, we are to draw near to God in part by challenging our flesh.  Fasting and self denial is part of how we train our physical self to greater appreciate our Lord.  But then we must also set a strong focus on the Word of God, the Bible is our main tool for the Christian's mind to be renewed in the process.  And the third thing is prayer, we must "commune" with the Father, spend time in communication with Him, this is good for our Soul.  None of this is to improve our standing with God, but should be driven by our desire to have a healthy relationship with God.

So...  "lent" ... are you "bent" towards "lent".  I hope you are not.  Mostly because of the root of the practice is found in trying to please God and prepare ourselves by purification, to celebrate Easter.  Christians are not to fast to please God and we cannot physically prepare ourselves for Easter.  However to take time to fast and pray and camp in the Bible, is good practice as we seek obedience to our Lord and Master.  So my stance is that if you do "lent" then please keep evaluating why you are doing so and do not let yourself be deceived and drawn into a works based salvation.

May we live in a greater understanding every day of the sufficiency of the work of Jesus on our behalf.

Pastor Bruce