“Lent is a time for discipline, for confession, for honesty, not because God is mean or fault-finding or finger-pointing but because he wants us to know the joy of being cleaned out, ready for all the good things he now has in store.” ~
When I was young, I was all boy. My mom would definitely say that. Just like all boys my age, I got into everything. Everything. If there was something to explore, I explored. If there was someplace to go, I went. If there was something that could get us dirty, I came home filthy. And just like all boys my age, a bath was the last thing I wanted to take.
Why would a person take so much time having fun and getting dirty just to jump in a shower or a bathtub? That didn’t make any sense to me. So, bath time was often a chore for my mom. She had four boys. We really gave her a run for her money. I feel sorry for her.
Lent is just like bath time as a youngster. We spend so much of our time wallowing in the promises of the world and getting our souls quite filthy. Lent is like our mother telling us to jump in the bath and scrub up. Who wants to wash off all that delightful dirt? That “dirt”, though, is the accumulation of sin.
We have been marked by our sin and if we do not do something about it, our sin could cloud our eyes and our judgment and lead us down the wrong path which will take us away from the Lord rather than toward Him. It is only when we embrace the discipline of Lent that we can address the filth and the mire that we have allowed into our lives.
That may not sound so pleasant; but, have no doubt about it. Sin is filth and mire. Our souls were made for better than that. Our souls were made for God. Cast aside, then, the filth of sin so that you may be presentable to our loving God.
FAITH ACTION: Continue to work on your Lenten resolve so that your soul may become cleansed and prepared to celebrate the glories of Easter.