Easter Season

People think it is strange to like Lent.  It is after all a penitential season, and who likes penitence?  Feeling penitent sounds bad enough, but actually enjoying the Lenten season seems to verge on Masochism.   I should be joyful that Lent is over, Easter has come and I can once again say Hallelujah!

But I’m actually a little sad.  Once Easter comes, we seem to go back to business as usual.  I liked having the emphasis of our faith placed on our personal spiritual journey.  Lent gave us the chance to look at our lives with a critical eye and to find the obstructions that keep us from God and then work to remove them.

Wait a minute – why do we only do that during the Lenten season?  Why don’t we concentrate on our personal growth in becoming more like Christ all year long?   

I want to challenge you to join me in making a special effort to continue to search for this newness of life and forgiveness.  Following close upon Lent’s penitence is hope – hope that the barriers between us and God will disappear and be gone for good. Pray with me that with God’s help, we will keep clear a space for God and experience greater joy on a daily basis. 

Here are some suggestions for clearing sacred space in your life:

v daily prayer/meditation time

v media fasts

v meditative walks

v creative activities – music and art

v journaling

v volunteering in Christ’s name

May you emerge each day transformed and closer to God.

Repentance

Repentance. What is it? It's an excellent question, and a subject about which there is considerable misunderstanding. Some believe repentance is feeling sorry for what they've done wrong. And that is a fine thing, but it's not the same as repentance.

A 180-DEGREE TURN
A Hebrew word translated repent in the Old Testament is shuwb, meaning to turn. Changing our mind in repentance involves a turning.  Moses told the Israelites, "When you turn [shuwb] to the Lord your God and obey His voice...He will not forsake you nor destroy you" (Deut. 4:30-31). The same word is used three times in Ezekiel 14:6, "Thus says the Lord God: ‘Repent [shuwb], turn away [shuwb] from your idols, and turn away [shuwb] your faces from all your abominations.'" It is for this kind of turning that Paul commends the Thessalonian believers: "You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God" (I Thess. 1:9).

A CHANGE OF MIND AFFECTING OUR LIVES
"Repentance," in the New Testament, is translated from the Greek word metanoeo, and means a change of mind. This does not simply a superficial change of some opinion we have–such as, "I've decided I prefer chocolate ice cream to vanilla ice cream." Repentance is a genuine change of attitudes and values that affects our lives in a significant way. Paul said he preached to the Gentiles, "that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance" (Acts 26:20). It was expected that their repentance would fundamentally change the way they lived.

A RESTORED RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
Biblical repentance always involves our relationships with the Lord. It involves seeing our sins as offenses against a holy God. In repentance, we change our minds about selves, our sins, and God. When we sin, we are actually rejecting God's rule over our lives and placing ourselves on the throne. We imply–whether or not we actually say it–that God is wrong, and we are right about how we should act. In repentance we change our minds about that false view of ourselves and our sins, and admit that God is right. That change of mind affects how we behave.

How have your attitudes, priorities and lifestyle changed during this Lenten season?

“Life is pain."  This is the first sentence of Scott Peck's book The Road Less Traveled.  He point's this out in his book to help us see that the sooner we accept that life is pain, the better off we will be.  Many of us have had setbacks in our lives.  We may have suffered divorce, bankruptcy, death of a loved one, illness, substance abuse, or just plain disappointment.  It’s important to realize that each of us is an individual, but our experiences are not unique.  Others have suffered our same struggles.  We all have had obstacles that we have overcome.  Some pain takes a long time to heal, but we can get better with time, perseverance, and a positive attitude and spirit.  When offered a second chance in life, we need to make the most of it.  

Second chances are not guaranteed in this world.  But Paul wrote in Romans 8 “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Because of Christ, our God is a God of second chances. 

When given a second chance in life, living to the best of our abilities shows our gratitude for what we have been given.  It will take prayer, patience, focus, and support to ensure we make the most of it.  Above all else, knowing that God is on our side, and doing something about it will make the difference.  Life is about God’s continual call on our lives, and our willingness to stop running and allow God to enter into our hearts and create in us a clean heart.  This is an offer God makes to all of us!  Thank God we serve a God of SECOND CHANCES!

Have you heard God calling lately?