At the church I pastor, the elders are calling the congregation to a special commitment to prayer during the forty days leading up to Easter, the period some traditions have celebrated as Lent.
My friend Mike Osborne has an excellent post on how Lent, and particularly the ancient practice of fasting during Lent, can be used for growth in our love for Christ. There is much wisdom here. I encourage your reading of this and your consideration of the suggestions he makes.
It reminds me of Lauren Winner in Girl Meets God being challenged by a pastor to give up reading for Lent. Ouch. Yes, even good things can compete against Christ for our affections.
Rebekah
I was thinking about how giving up food would be a self-centered thing for me, since I eat so healthy anyway for self-centered reasons, so perhaps some of us should do something like eat junk food for Lent, if we want to follow the true spirit of the practice!
Randy Greenwald
Actually, if we are basing our righteousness upon our healthy eating, then perhaps a Hershey bar/day would indeed help to slay that idol and bring us more squarely to Christ alone. Of course, in the interest of pure sacrifice, daughter J said she’d give up smoking and I determined to give up beer… 🙂