Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Why I'm Not Giving Up Chocolate For Lent


Here it is on Ash Wednesday and I’m eating a chocolate brownie with a glass of wine. A lot of people probably gave these things up for Lent, but I’m not one of them. Oh sure, we had a wonderful church service this evening with a message that challenged us to give up those things that keep us from following after God. I even wrote some things down and placed them at the cross. I did not promise God that I would give up some “thing,” but I did promise to make some changes in my life regarding how I spend my time.

One of those changes involves being more intentional about prayer. I’m kind of an obsessive-compulsive Bible reader with a competitive spirit, so I’m pretty good at that. I’ll read large chunks of scripture at a time just to claim the title of “first-person-to-get-through-the-Bible-this-year” in my home. (I’m only competing against one other person and I’m not sure he cares whether I win or not.) But prayer involves more commitment from me. I keep putting it off . . . or falling asleep . . . or thinking that my prayer list is too long I’ll never get to it all. There are tons of excuses but I’m going to do better at that.

I’m also going to try to journal every day during Lent. That’s hard work for me but it just might keep me away from that arcade of video games on my IPad calling to me. I learn stuff about myself when I write, and perhaps someday one of my curious grandchildren or great-grandchildren may read this and learn stuff about me too.
I’m going to work on a few relationships as well. There are a couple of people in my life for whom my heart aches and I’m not sure what that’s about. I think they’re struggling and could use a listener and an advocate. During this season I’m going to be intentional about that and I know that God will prepare the way for those conversations.

So . . . this Ash Wednesday, 2012, I’ve added things to my life rather than giving things up. In the past I’ve found that I was giving up things that I knew I should, but my motives were wrong. I think if I give something up, it shouldn’t be something that I know would be good to give up anyway. Like food. I was talking with someone tonight who actually weighed herself before she came to church because she was going to give up all food after 8:00 p.m. and she was giving up desserts also. She was annoyed with herself because she weighed the same as she did on Ash Wednesday last year, in spite of the fact that she had lost 12 pounds . . . during Lent.

If I give up something that I know I should give up anyway, that’s kind of like using God for dual purposes. If I need to lose the weight, why make it look like I’m giving up food for a spiritual purpose? It’s kind of like waiting to pray until I’m on my way to work and have nothing better to do. Isn’t God worth my setting aside special time? And isn’t God worth my giving up something that is truly a sacrifice, not something I should be giving up anyway?

So . . . that’s why I’m taking another approach. I’m adding things to my life that I know are part of His plan for me. If I do them well, those things I should have given up, whatever they are, might just fall away.

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