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February 26:

Read: Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7; Matthew 4:1-11

As Matthew 4 begins, Jesus has just been baptized. The Holy Spirit had descended upon him like a dove and the voice of the Father declared, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” I always thought this would be the perfect time for Jesus to start his ministry. He just received the endorsement of one of the most popular preachers in the world. There were already crowds gathered. Strike while the iron’s hot!

Not so fast! Matthew 4:1, Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The first thing Jesus does is head to the wilderness. For forty days and nights, Jesus fasts and prays and meets with God in a desolate, deserted, solitary place: The wilderness.

Traditionally, the season of Lent gets its structure and themes from Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness where he fasted, prayed, and faced Satan’s temptations. The wilderness was not punishment. Jesus was just declared God’s beloved son. Instead, God had a purpose and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Jesus goes.

2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came… Isn’t that just like Satan? He waits until we are weak and then attacks! He waits until Jesus is most vulnerable and then he pounces!

But I think that’s backwards. Jesus may be physically weak, but spiritually he’s at his strongest. His time in the wilderness is a time of preparation for the ministry before him. Like all who serve as ministers of the gospel, Jesus will be tempted to trust in things other than God for his security and survival. He will be tempted to seek his approval, power, and control in human things.

“If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread…If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down…All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Richard Rohr observes, “These three…are…temptations that all humans must face…they are temptations to misuse power for purposes that are less than God’s purpose.” Jesus passes all three tests. The wilderness, the lonely place, was his place of preparation and strengthening.

During Lent, we often experience the evil one’s temptations for us to save ourselves through our own human strength and strategy instead of trusting God to be enough to meet what we need. We must ask ourselves,

  • Where am I tempted to ‘turn these stones to bread’ in my life?
  • Where am I tempted to use the gifts and power God has given me to bring security and control in my life?
  • Where am I putting God to the test and disregarding my human limitations to try to prove something to others and then expecting God to come to my rescue again and again?
  • When, where, and how am I tempted to worship the outward trappings of success rather than seeking the inner joy, peace, and authority that come from worshiping God and serving Him only?

We often think the wilderness is a harsh place. We think of it as a place God banishes us to when we fall short. Lent invites us to see it as a place of preparation; a place where we find clarity, inner strength, and salvation that comes from God alone. We find it is the place we find God’s steadfast love.

Henri Nouwen writes, “We have to fashion our own desert where we can withdraw every day, shake off our compulsions and dwell in the gentle healing presence of the Lord. Without such a desert we will lose our own soul while preaching the gospel to others.”

For Reflection:

  • In what ways am I trusting something or someone other than God for security and survival, affirmation and approval, power and control?
  • During Lent, how will I fashion my own wilderness – creating space for solitude and stillness – so I can on God and experience his steadfast love as my true salvation?

Readings this week:

February 27: 1 Kings 19:1-8; Hebrews 2:10-18

February 28: Genesis 4:1-16; Hebrews 4:14-5:10

March 1: Exodus 34:1-9, 27-28; Matthew 18:10-14

March 2: Isaiah 51:1-3; 2 Timothy 1:3-7

March 3: Micah 7:18-20; Romans 3:21-31

March 4: Isaiah 51:4-8; Luke 7:1-10

March 5: Genesis 12:1-4a; John 3:1-17

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February 22: Ash Wednesday

Read: Joel 2:1-2, 1217; Matthew 6:1-6; 16-21

Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent – six weeks set apart for the purpose of drawing closer to God. It is a time in the church calendar people are encouraged to pursue Him with greater intensity and focus. The questions I ask myself each Lent is: “Where in my life have I gotten away from God? What are the practices that will help me find my way back?”

Ash Wednesday begins this season in which we are invited to be honest with God and ourselves about the ways we have drifted from God into lethargy or mediocrity or inaction in our relationship with God. Joel, speaking God’s Word to his people declared, “Yet even now…return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.

It is an invitation to repentance, to returning to the Lord, to finding his mercy and his grace are sufficient for us in our time of need. Our God is gracious. He is slow to anger. He abounds in steadfast love. He longs to bless us with his loving presence. When we draw near to him, he promises to draw near to us.

When Joel spoke God’s Word, there was reason to wonder if God would relent, if he would forgive the people for their sin. During Lent, we don’t have that fear. We know the answer. We’re moving toward it! Jesus has died and been raised from the dead! Through faith in his finished work, we are forgiven and set free.

Nevertheless, our hearts wander. Our focus falters. Our passion wanes. Like a bonfire only stays hot if we tend to it diligently, over time the busyness and the worries and concerns and pleasures of life often distract us. Lent reminds us to recalibrate. It reminds us to realign our hearts to the heart of God.

Each February, major league baseball players head to Florida or Arizona to begin training for the coming season. They’ve played baseball for years and years, surely they know how to hit and field and throw! And yet, they practice the fundamentals. They correct bad habits. They seek to get better; more efficient. They want to get their muscle memory so in tune with their brains, they don’t have to think when the ball is coming, they simply react. Their bodies know what to do.

Lent is sort of like spiritual spring training. We intentionally seek God through times of personal examination, fasting, prayer, Bible reading, silence and solitude – perhaps things we haven’t been very consistent in practicing – that God might search us and know us and lead us into deeper intimacy, love, and dependence on him.

We often choose to “give up” something during Lent because the practices of fasting and other forms of abstinence help us reconnect and recalibrate with God. Our longing for God is stirred and fanned into flame. The hold sinful patterns may have taken over us can be broken. Things of the world that we have attached our hearts or hope to can be repented from and through our godly grief, we can experience the forgiveness and freedom that comes through faith and repentance.

Lent can be a somber and serious season, but it should be a joyful and hope-filled season as well. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness (Lamentations 3:23). Jesus has come. All who believe in him will never perish but have eternal life. The good work Jesus has begun in us will be carried to completion. As we trust and follow Jesus, our mourning turns into dancing!

For Reflection:
• Where are the places in your own life where you feel distant from God?
• What distracts you from cultivating your relationship with God more intentionally?
• As you begin your Lenten journey, reflect on what you might “give up” or rearrange in order to create more space and more passion for God.

Readings this week:
February 23: Jonah 3:1-10; Romans 1:1-7
February 24: Jonah 4:1-11; Romans 1:8-17
February 25: Isaiah 58:1-12; Matthew 18:1-7
February 26: Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7; Matthew 4:1-11