Just the Beginning

At the beginning of this Lenten season

I’m beginning again to earnestly seek Christ –

Beginning and praying to continue

Not just for a season but for the rest of my life.

Forgive me Lord for when I’m not faithful,

When I choose sleep over pursuing you.

Forgive me Lord when I’m disobedient,

When I fail to do what you’ve told me to do.

For forty days I’ll turn down my plate.

For forty days I’ll seek your face.

Forty days are just the beginning –

For the rest of my days I’ll run my race.

As my little poem says, today is the first day of the Lenten season. It’s a season of reflection and preparation for Easter or Resurrection Sunday.  But for me, I want it to be more. I want it to be a new beginning. I want Lent to be a time of purposely pursuing God, not for blessings but to just be in His presence; to bask in the joy of His love; to know He is for me and no matter what my circumstances I’m more than a conqueror.  Sometimes I forget these things, or I take them for granted. I’m not proud of that fact, but to move beyond it, I feel I need to recognize and acknowledge it. It’s like someone with an addiction – admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery. So, as we enter the season of Lent, I’m turning down my plate and bending the knee (because a fast without prayer is just starvation.) And again, as I said in the poem, I don’t want this to be just for a season, I want to pursue God and prepare not just for Resurrection Sunday, but for His return for me, His bride.

I invite everyone who calls on the Name of Jesus to join me in my pursuit, in this season of reflection and rededication to Christ. Easter is coming soon where we will celebrate the resurrection of Christ. But let us not forget that Jesus is truly returning soon. We’ve heard it so long that we don’t think about it as we should anymore. We feel like we’ve got time when in truth no man knows the day nor the hour. I want to be ready and I want to encourage as many people as I can to get ready too.

On this first day of Lent, pause and reflect and ask God to show you your true self. Ask Him to reveal to you your heart. Then ask Him to help you make right anything that He shows you. It may not be easy, but it will be worth it. And at the end of this season, continue with Him so that when He cracks the sky and calls His bride to Himself, you will hear Him say to you, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”