Lent

I've never given anything up for lent in my life before. I always associated giving things up for lent with being Catholic. I don't know if it was never mentioned in church growing up or if I just wasn't really paying attention. This year however, after hearing the sermon (when your spirit runs dry) this Sunday I got to thinking that maybe I should give something up.

The things that I took away from the sermon was how easy it is to let your spirit run dry. We have so many distractions in our lives that take away from our relationships and our time with God. I am so guilty of spending so much time on facebook, twitter, etc. I'm not gaining life from the hours I spend on these websites. Instead I'm mainly just looking at other people's lives and seeing what is new in their worlds. It's also so automatic for me to go to my computer check my email and facebook and I do it multiple times in one sitting. Pastor Mike also discussed how we are all so overwhelmed and such because of all of our distractions. I find myself always saying that I don't have time for things because of work, school, etc. I don't have time to read my Bible or pray regularly. But in reality I do I have the time. I just don't make the time. Instead I spend my time on the computer doing random things.

This why I decided to give up facebook, twitter, and pintrest for lent. I spend so much of my time doing these things without helping me grow as a person. I hope that this will allow me the time I need to do my homework, while also allowing me to grow closer to God, which is really what Lent is all about.

Today at the Ash Wednesday service at Hope (you can watch it streaming live at 7 pm on the link above if you read this before or else I'm sure they'll put it up later) the message was on how clean is your (spiritual) house. It was a really good message and I really related to a lot that was said. I know that currently my spiritual life is very cluttered and not growing. The thing that really stood out to me from the sermon was when he talked about how much time you spend with God and how complacent people get in their faith. I know that lately I've gotten very complacent. I go to church each week and go through the motions. Yes, things resonate with me, but I don't actively seek to grow in my relationship with God. Instead I live off of the faith and examples of others. The stories the pastor tells on Sundays, the stories from Intervarsity on Wednesday, Christian books I've read, mission trips I've been on in the past. I really haven't been working on my relationship with God and growing in that.

My hope for this Lenten season is to grow closer to God and to have experiences with God that are uniquely mine. Instead of relying on the faith of others I want to rediscover who God is to me. I'm very much looking forward to this 40 day journey and seeing what God will do in my life especially with my very small sacrifice of not going on facebook, twitter, and pintrest.  I'll hopefully be blogging more about this experience and where I'm going or where I'm struggling. Tomorrow I'll post a little bit more about what I've heard when I stop and listen to God.

Are you giving anything up for lent? Are you adding anything to your life?