The pastor of our church spoke yesterday about the 40 days of Lent leading up to Easter. This is a special time that Christians can devote to prayer, repentance, giving to others and self-denial in order to prepare their hearts and minds for understanding the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross.
I was inspired by my pastor's sermon and prayed for a real soul cleansing this month.
I've been thinking a lot about the state of my soul lately. Much of that has to do with the recent earthquakes in Christchurch and Japan. Despite the devastation they've caused, I see good that has come out of them in reminding us we are nothing but dust without God.
Our lives here on earth are fleeting. Yet it's so easy to put all our energy into building our homes and treasures here, where they can literally be shaken out from under us in an instant.
While listening to my pastor's sermon on Lent, I wondered whether it would be good for me to fast this month, but decided it wouldn't be smart since since I'm pregnant. However, when I got home my flatmate announced he was giving up chocolate for Lent and I thought, "Yes! That's one thing I can give up that will be good for me and baby, and still be a real sacrifice." (I've told you before about my insane chocolate addiction.)
So that's what I'm doing; I'm giving up chocolate for Lent. My prayer is that by doing this, my focus will change from serving myself to serving God and others.
I'll let you know how I get on and if I notice any changes within myself by doing this.
Awesome Emma. You can do it I am sure. Love reading your thoughts about God stuff.
ReplyDeleteJodie.
Thanks Jodie :)
ReplyDeleteEmma: I hope your chocolate fast is going well. I too am doing it and it's mostly been good, a little challenging last Friday.
ReplyDeleteThere's a really good reason why we Christians should give up chocolate for Lent, maybe for life. It's quite surprising but true: hundreds of thousands of children are forced to labour in the cocoa jungles. In Ivory Coast, 12,000 children have been trafficked into slavery. I'm exploring a Christian response to the bitter truth about chocolate at my blog.
Giving up chocolate for Lent, maybe for life by Ken Symes
Hi Ken, thanks for sharing your post and the BBC video. That is shocking and really given me something to think about.
ReplyDeleteGood luck Emma! I have tried to give up chocolate and it never lasts more than a few weeks. Even after I read "Sweet Poison" by David Gillespie (http://sweetpoison.com.au/) which goes into detail about how much damage sucrose does to the body (unfortunately that includes most sources of sweetness, even the less refined ones). You should read it while you are giving up, it might give you some extra motivation! Cheers, Liz
ReplyDeleteI like the comment in your post about giving up something and replacing it with something more useful/Godly... like prayer. One of our friends is trying everyday to make contact with people she doesn't usually meet/talk/email and doesn't want to loose touch with. Other friends of mine have made a point of doing or saying something encouraging to a different person everyday for lent. They're great things to do for Lent, but I would like to think that Lent starts good habits that last a lifetime.
ReplyDeleteHeather