Should I Participate In Lent?
First, I want to share how this topic popped into my head. For the past couple of days, I’ve been feeling a bit off. It’s a mixture of things really. From me not taking my vitamins (St. Johns Wart has been a lifesaver for my depression) to me having to go to multiple doctors, including one where I had to have a procedure done that is still causing me some pain. Also, being away from my detailed Bible reading for a while didn’t help. I’ve been in the gospels (reading Chronologically), and I always lose interest in the gospels. It’s what used to prevent me from reading the whole Bible. And that’s horrible to say because they are literally the life of Jesus, the gospel lived out day to day, Jesus’ Words! But it’s my truth. So I decided to slow down and stick to reading a passage or two from the gospels but jump to Acts for the meat of my studying. (I did pray to God about this feeling and asked for help with this btw) While reading Acts 1-4, I received the refreshing my soul needed. For me, I like having a plan, so I checked out this Crossway infographic that mentioned it would take about 40 days for me to read the New Testament (my current focus) if I read 30 minutes a day. And that triggered in my mind that Lent was probably coming up soon.
Since I’ve been serious about my Christian walk, I’ve heard about the Lenten season and questioned what it was. I gained an understanding that it was a season leading up to Easter, which is when we usually celebrate the resurrection of Christ. But that’s as far as my knowledge went. Focusing on the NT for 40 days, is that something I could do for Lent? Should I even be celebrating Lent? If you have followed along with my #All66Books journey on IG, you know I recently finished reading the whole Bible. Yet there was no mention of the word “lent.” So I did what I do best and went researching on the internet. I found this fantastic site (amongst others) that was able to break it down for me. Long story short, lent itself isn’t in the Bible, but the practices can be found (fasting and praying). It honestly reminds me of the corporate fast a lot of churches do in January for 21 days (which isn’t a command in the Bible either). Obviously, some denominations of Christians do more for Lent (like Catholics mentioned in the article above). There has been a lot of rituals and structure put into place by man that you can choose to follow.
So, where did I land on this issue? I’m following the Holy Spirit. So while officially I won’t be observing Lent and fasting on the exact days some denominations do, I am going to be using this time up until Easter/Pentecost season to focus on precisely what God wanted from His Church and me as His follower. I do have a feeling that I will be doing lots of fasting and praying during this time, and I look forward to it. I’ll share what I’m led to share when led to share. 💖
