Restricted to receive ?

This Wednesday just passed (17th Feb) was the beginning of the season of Lent. Traditionally Lent is thought of as a time for self-denial, abstinence from different things and devotion to spiritual disciplines for believers in Jesus. The purpose is to set aside time and space for reflection on Jesus’ suffering and his sacrifice, his life, death, burial, and resurrection, as people prepare their hearts for celebrating Jesus’ death and resurrection at Easter. In other word’s it is considered a time for ‘giving’ things up or restricting oneself to reflect on something greater than our own pleasures.

Maybe it is restricting certain foods in your diet, perhaps restricting the amount of television you watch, for others it might be restricting screen time on your mobile devices and so the list of restrictions go on.

It appears to be the denial of pleasure & enjoyment and the placing of restrictions on our lives. These are things we have all experienced, in different degrees, across the whole world during this pandemic.

However, perhaps we should think of lent as more of a time to remember what we have received from God and making space in our hearts to receive more from him. The Bible tells us that God so loved the world that he GAVE his one and only son (Jesus) that whoever should believe in him would not perish but have eternal life. God is a giving God and wants us to receive from him, so often people think we have to sacrifice and give things up to please and appease him. I would like to propose that giving things up is not to please and appease God but to make room in our hearts to receive the everlasting gift of his love. Therefore, we should think of Lent as an opportunity for making space in our hearts and minds to be filled with even greater pleasures, that is the love and presence of Jesus.

Furthermore:

In this time of social distancing, restrictions on what we can and can not do, perhaps we need to see this as an opportunity to grasp (receive) a fuller experience of these promises of Jesus to his followers:

I will not leave you as Orphans

I will ask the Father and we will send the Holy Spirit ( the comforter)

I will be with you always……………………………………………………………………