Lent: A Season of Hope

Sorry I missed yesterday, had a lot of writing things going on. With the start of Lent yesterday I thought I would post an article that I wrote a few years ago concerning the season of Lent.


When I was a child, I spent the whole year anticipating Christmas and all that came with it. By comparison, Easter was a rather dull holiday after the long boring season of Lent. When I got older, I began to realize the connection between the two holidays and the importance of Lent and the Easter season. Of course, without Christmas and its promise and hope of things to come there would be no Easter. For me, Easter has now become the more important of the two holidays. Through Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, Jesus delivers the promise and fulfills the hope.

Lent helps us prepare to live in the hope and receive the promise. It is the season for reconciliation and renewal. Even more than Advent, Lent offers us an opportunity to reconcile ourselves with Christ and celebrate the glory of God.

We should approach the Lenten season with dignity and sadness, but also with an equal ration of joy and celebration. The resurrection of Christ is a wonderful and glorious thing that God has given us as a gift. Jesus with his sacrifice has paid the ransom for our souls. During Lent, we are traveling on a journey of spiritual renewal. It isn’t an easy journey, but one well worth the effort. For when we reach our final destination, it will be a new life with Christ.

We don’t need to pack much for this journey. A bible and an open mind and heart are sufficient. Our hearts need to be open to God’s message. God sent His Son into the world to die for us so that we could be saved from Satan. Salvation comes when we acknowledge our humanness by admitting we are sinners and sharing the journey to Calvary and the Cross with Jesus. By asking for God’s love and help, we admit our weakness and take on the armor of God. This only happens by accepting, Jesus has come to save us through His crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, so we must give up our sins for him to triumph over evil.

We begin this by praying and reading our bible. We accept Jesus in our life as our savior and companion. We thank God for blessings and help during hard times. We help those in need. You’ve heard all this before, I think. Yet you ask what else can we do? The answer is still the same. Spend time with God everyday. Let Him be a part of your life.

A few years ago, I bought my daughter a teddy bear that had the initials WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) monogrammed on his sweater. This little teddy bear now sits on my desk to remind me every time I need to make a decision about something to stop and think about what I’m doing and ask Jesus what he would do. Jesus is waiting for us to ask, to invite him into our lives. Lent offers the perfect opportunity to extend that invitation. Do it today and start Lent off with Christ in your life. Make this years Lent the one that changes your life.