Taking Back Lent

By Nancy Golden

Are you looking for a way to set your focus on the true meaning of Lent, but don't have a lot of time?

 

Do you want something simple, that you can accomplish easily, yet you want it to add a reflective component to each day as you move through the Lenten season?

 

Are you looking for easy-to-implement activities that you can do as a way to emphasize the spirit of Lent?

 

This Lenten devotional may be the perfect way to help us reflect on what we can do to lead holy lives while bringing hope to our days. In these pages you will find an easy-to-understand book that is intentionally not very long, so you can savor each reading in a short period of time. You will find it very convenient to fit this devotional into even the busiest of schedules, yet it will help you experience the peace and hope that this special season brings. The daily readings and activities will help you realize God's mercy and graciousness are awaiting you.

 

The start of Lent fluctuates each year and traditionally begins Ash Wednesday, which also serves as the entry point for this daily devotional. At the end of each devotional is a section called Today's Activity, and there you will find simple suggestions on how to implement what you have been reading about. Nothing complicated, just small ways to help you move with repentance and reflection toward the Resurrection during the course of your day.

 

While regarded as a solemn season, Lent is also a time imbued with joy. We are an Easter people, aware of our sinful state but confident in the blessed assurance of salvation Jesus provides to those who call upon Him as Lord and Savior. This Lenten devotional does not adhere to a specific faith tradition but always abides by Scripture and can be enjoyed by all who follow Jesus Christ. It doesn't matter how far along you are on your spiritual journey—Taking Back Lent is meant for people in every season of life.

 

The perfect Christ-centered gift for giving! I hope you'll consider adding this Lenten devotional to your Easter season tradition and join me in Taking Back Lent!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Golden Cross Ranch LLC
• Release date: Jan 31, 2024
• ISBN: 9781956891102

Book preview

ASH WEDNESDAY - DAY ONE

NANCY GOLDEN

Ash Wednesday traditionally marks the beginning of the first day of Lent, an important event in the Christian liturgical calendar. Lent is a time of solemn self-reflection and confession that parallels what Jesus experienced during His 40 days in the wilderness. While we will be exploring and reflecting on the meaning of that wilderness journey and applying it in our own lives, today, our focus will be on Ash Wednesday (also referred to as the Day of Ashes).

You may have participated in Lent as part of your church or denomination tradition, or you may have, at some point in the past, been startled and wondered why you see people walking around with a black-colored cross smudged across their foreheads. You may have deduced that it has a religious meaning associated with the Christian faith, and in fact, you would be correct. So, let’s take today to understand the significance of this special and solemn day in the Christian faith.

Interestingly enough, preparation for Ash Wednesday begins almost a year prior. Palm Sunday is another important holiday in the Christian church, which commemorates Jesus’s final entrance into Jerusalem (Mark 11:1-11). His followers greeted Him in grand style as the coming king, and people waved palm branches in homage to Him. In many church traditions, church leaders hand out palm branches on Palm Sunday, and the congregation replicates the scene from Scripture during the worship service. The palm branches are then gathered and burned, and the ashes are set aside for use on Ash Wednesday the following year. The priest or pastor then mixes this substance with oil to make the sign of the cross.

Depending on a person’s church tradition, the imparting of this symbol can occur in one of a variety of ways. Often, they attend a mass or church service, and it is a time of both personal and communal repentance. A message centering around Genesis 3:19 is frequently given, and afterward, the congregation is invited to come forward to receive their ashes. The priest or pastor will typically say, Repent and believe in the Gospel, or Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return, as they use their thumb dipped in ashes to draw the cross on the person’s forehead.

Whether you are able to participate in the actual receiving of ashes or not, what matters most is what is going on in your own heart. Ash Wednesday is an important reminder of our need for repentance and our mortality, but also that through our repentance and obedience to God comes everlasting life.

TODAY’S ACTIVITY: The story of Ash Wednesday can be found in the following verses. Take a few minutes to meditate on them.

Genesis 2:7 informs us that we were created from dust. God formed man from the dust of the ground, and then His very breath brought us to life!

Genesis 3:19 tells us the consequences of the Fall, when man and woman were cast out of the garden—that we were made from dust and to dust we shall return.

Psalm 51:7-10 is how we should respond—David’s cry for repentance is also our own.

Reread the words of David in Psalm 51, Create in me a pure heart, O God (Psalm 51:10), and reflect on those words. Rejoice in the fact that—while we all need to repent—we are not in it alone. David calls out to God for help, and so can we. The Psalms are a great example for us in how to pray. Take a few minutes and pray Psalm 51 to the One who loves you beyond measure.

THURSDAY – DAY TWO

NANCY GOLDEN

Yesterday, we discovered where the ashes used on Ash Wednesday came from. Let’s pause a moment to study the significance of this connection. Why use the ashes of the palm branches that paid homage to Christ, to mark the symbol of the cross on a Christian’s forehead? Keep in mind that the branches are used to recognize Jesus as the coming king in what is often referred to as the triumphal entry— Jesus riding on the foal of a donkey in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. It is on this occasion that Jesus makes His claim public. He is the Messiah and eagerly awaited King of Israel.

Consider this. The branches used to recognize Jesus as the long-awaited King and Messiah are consumed by fire and made into ashes. These same branches have been refined into a substance to mark the forehead of a believer who uses the opportunity to reflect on their need for a Savior. The branches were used to recognize an earthly conquering king. The ashes symbolize humility and anointing of the King, who came not to conquer Rome, but to rule in the kingdom of our hearts.

TODAY’S ACTIVITY: Reflect on Paul’s words about Jesus in Philippians 2:6-7,

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

What example does that set for our own journey? When we get enamored by our own self-importance or feel driven toward earthly measures of success, it’s good to remember that the King of the universe made himself nothing. God does not desire our achievements, awards, or trophies. He desires our hearts.

Galatians 5:22-23 tells us, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Choose one and focus on how you can strive toward achieving it – practice setting goals that have eternal value rather than earthly acclaim.

FRIDAY – DAY THREE

NANCY GOLDEN

Hebrews 12:1-2 is a wonderful Scripture to guide us through the Lenten season:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Often, when people think about Lent, they mistake the solemnity of the season as a reason for sadness. Reflecting on our sin is not a joyful topic, after all. But a season of fasting, praying, and almsgiving should be a season of joy (one of the fruits of the Spirit) in that we are drawing closer to God through these penitential actions – allowing His grace to flow over us.

Giving up something for Lent is not a punishment for our sins, which would be very bad theology robbing us of the meaning of God’s incredible grace – the forgiveness we have through the atoning sacrifice of His Son. Lent is a season to experience God’s love for us in great measure while living in the hope of the Resurrection!

By participating in the Lenten practice of giving up something, we come to find we didn’t need it after all – that God is all we need. Lent is a wonderful time to grow spiritually stronger, and by releasing what we have been clinging to, we become truly free.

So let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and set our eyes on the One that provides everything we could ever need!

TODAY’S ACTIVITY: Reflect on the things in your life that divert your attention away from God and His purposes. Be careful to distinguish between your God-given passions and the temptations of the world. You may be called to temporarily fast from what God has planted in your heart, and that is okay, but don’t mistake that for something you should give up permanently. Fast from those things that come from the world, for by doing so, you will find that God fills that void more than you can ever imagine.

My own personal example: I love horses and ride every chance I get. When I ride, it’s also a chance for me to connect with God on my horse – I often sing praise and worship songs and pray. But if I started riding without that spiritual component and rode to the point of neglecting others and my responsibilities, it would be wise for me to fast from riding so that I could regain a spiritual balance.

Since that is not the case, I would choose to fast from social media, as I find myself occasionally pulled in and wasting a lot of time on it that could be much better spent. I could commit to reading my Bible during the time I would normally connect on social media, or do something for someone – perhaps writing a card of