Lent is coming. Are you ready? The Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent is short and sweet, but packed with so many levels of understanding.
Here’s the Gospel: "The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him. After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." That first sentence, “The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert” causes me to stop and think and pray quite a bit. Now, I’m not sure about you, but giving up something for Lent usually does not involve a lot of the Spirit. Usually, it’s me thinking, “I have not been eating well and spend a lot of my time thinking about Food instead of God… so I'll give up sweets for lent.”… or soda… or going out to eat… and then that’s it. Usually within two weeks of Lent, I fail! Hahah sound familiar? My challenge for you before Lent officially kicks off this Wednesday is to STOP. THINK. and PRAY by inviting the Holy Spirit into your life and let the SPIRIT DRIVE you into your desert, a place that will tempt you, a place that is difficult, a place that is lonely at times, a place where you can let the angels minister to you.
Then this Sunday, when you hear this gospel, that first line, “The Spirit drove Jesus into the desert”, imagine that the Spirit drives Jesus into your desert. Let Jesus fight your battles, your temptations, give them to him. Stop trying to do everything yourself and invite Jesus into your darkest places. This is Lent. This is difficult. This is why he came and died for us. When we let him fight for us, we get to rise with Him. He is our answer. What is your desert? Will you let Jesus in it?
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AuthorWord up. I am Stacy, the youth minister of this amazing group of teens. I have 4 kids of my own, 2 heaven babies and like 60 teens I consider very large children of my own. Archives
March 2018
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