Lent

1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. (Luke 4:1-2)

The Lenten season is 40 days of fasting, repentance and preparation for the resurrection - both the celebration of Jesus' resurrection and the hope-filled journey toward our own resurrection. Jesus' time in the wilderness was a reflection of the Israelites' 40 years in the wilderness as they journeyed toward the promised land - minus the complaining and disobedience. We often think of lack and suffering when we think of the wilderness, but actually it was a time when God was visibly present with God's people through the flame and the cloud. The difficulties faced by the Israelites were usually the result of their forgetting all God had done, and failing to trust in God's constant guidance.

Each day we journey into the wilderness. Life is uncertain and temporary. We can be tempted to put our trust in things and people that can never sustain us. As we contemplate laying aside those things that threaten to separate us from our Creator, may we also consider picking up habits that will keep us open to the protecting, sustaining leadership of the God who knows where we've been and where we're going.

19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. "

(Matthew 6:19-21)