Temptation to Abandon Reconciliation

Our Lenten theme is "Building Relationships through Reconciliation." We know Lent is a season of living a more sacrificial lifestyle that promotes a closer relationship with God. We practice giving something up for Lent, but for what purpose exactly? Everyone doesn't really know why we practice giving things up during Lent.

So, to focus our minds and spirits in the proper direction, Lent is a time for prayer, repentance, and doing away with our sinful practices. To pray is to be in direct communication with God with one's soul's sincerest desire to know God and live in accordance or harmony with the will of God in every possible way. To repent is to allow God, through prayer, to inform us of our thoughts, words, and actions that are against God's will and which damage our relationship to God and our neighbors and then to turn away from them. To put away the thoughts, words, and actions that are against God's will, is in essence, to put to death our desire to go against the will of God.

A tangible way of doing that has been to practice abstinence and spiritual self-discipline. Spiritual self-discipline can be practiced physically by limiting intake of food, especially food that is unhealthy, combined with the spiritual discipline of becoming more "in tune" to strengthening godly habits like increasing prayer and devotional times and helping to make better the lives of those who are suffering or marginalized.

Engaging in those types of permanent changes in lifestyle to build a better relationship with God and our neighbors is part of being reconciled to God. Sinful desires and actions separate us from God, but during Lent we seek to become reconciled with God.

The Bible reading for this first Sunday in Lent is from Matthew 4:1-11. It deals with the account of "The tempter" aka the devil, challenging Jesus to abdicate his position as Messiah or Savior and abandon all efforts at reconciliation with humanity in order to satiate himself, leaving humanity to die in its sins. In addition, to save himself from harm leaving humanity to suffer from the penalty of their sinfulness with no hope of release without the greatest love sacrifice of all time that could only be given by the crucified and risen Christ.

By leading Jesus through the desert, the Spirit of God created the perfect environment so that Jesus would be equipped to begin his ministry and fulfill his purpose for coming to live among humankind. In what way is God leading you to put away your desires to go against God's will and be reconciled to God? What is tempting you to give up that effort?