// UP ASKS ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
Where do you seek meaning?
What do you give worth to?
Where do you listen?
Where are you are called to?
What do you embrace,
appreciate, praise?
How do you prioritize your life?
This is worship. Consider your relationship with God.
Who do you worship?
What do you worship?
How do you worship?
Where do you worship?
Lent is a reflective season roughly corresponding to Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness where He endured the temptations of the devil as He prepared Himself for the following years of ministry, the cross and the resurrection.
Lent’s 40 days are a season of self knowing that begin by counting the days backward (excluding Sundays) from the day marking Jesus’ resurrection. Lent is a time marked by contemplation during which we consider life and allow ourselves to become aware of the load we carry, the depth of God’s love and the relief of the Savior.
Lent is an ancient rhythm of intentional spiritual focus. Unlike many other days and seasons in the church calendar, Lent finds its origin and some form of practice in the earliest days of the life of the church. We call these early days the “apostolic age,” when even then the church was listening to the Spirit and asking, “How do we best live knowing Jesus and loving like Him?”
By the fourth century, there were widespread commonalities in Lenten experiences. Still, there is no question that the practice and the length of days observed for Lent has morphed over time. As the church continued to find its own diverse expression, spreading across geography and history, time and tradition set in. The discussion of meaningful Lenten practice and observation continues today, here and now, with the iLent project.
Many people today are seeking deeper and more personal meaning in their spiritual journeys and desire to know Jesus better. Many are finding an enlivened adventure of the Spirit along the Lenten path.
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, the seventh Wednesday before Easter, and ends as the good news of the resurrection ushers in the assurance of a new future secured for humanity. That is more than 40 days.
Why? The 40 days don’t count the Sundays. In the early church, every Sunday was a sacred celebration for remembering the joy of Jesus’ resurrection. It didn’t seem appropriate to have the shadow of Lent’s somber spirit hanging over the Resurrection Sunday celebration. The solution was to simply eliminate the Sundays, so they weren’t counted among the 40 days!
In the iLent rhythm we have continued the Lenten reflections right through and including each Sunday. In this way, we have honored the tension that it is Lent and it is also the Lord’s Day. Therefore, we have a devotion for each day, even Sundays.
Discussion
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