Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. When Jesse and I were at Kings University College we got in the habit of giving up something for Lent but this morning when I remembered its Ash Wednesday tomorrow I wondered why I would give something up for Lent. I started doing some reading and was reminded that the 40 days of Lent is representative of the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert. He gave up a lot during those 40 days. He went without food/water and without communication with others. All this in preparation for his ministry where he continued to live a life of self-denial ending, ultimately in his crucifixion.
Wikipedia says, "The purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer—through prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial—for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ." Sounds good to me.
I've noticed that sometimes I assume that free gifts are cheap. Its easy for me to forget the enormity of the gift we received through Christ's death and resurrection. So, I'm going to spend this season of Lent 'preparing for the commemoration of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus'. I'm going to do this by reading the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and reflecting on their message. Where will I find the extra time to do this? I'll be 'fasting' Facebook for 40 days =). So, no facebook. Its probably an addiction I should get over anyway.
