Ash Wednesday, the beginning. Day one of forty.
Last year around this time I gave myself one goal.
No bread.
No cereal. No bagels. No rice. No granola. No donuts. No pasta. No…much of anything! I denied myself for a full 40 days, failing twice.
This year, it is a much different story. To self-medicate, attempting to self-heal, I haven’t been depending on God. Instead, I have slowly fallen back into the world and have very much been living in it.
Listening and talking with God, He gave me direction for this year’s sacrifice. He said, “Give up dining out in and from restaurants, secular music, swearing, and sarcasm.”
“These things,” I heard Him clearly, “have removed you from Me. Instead of worshipping them, come back to Me. Be again desperate for Me.”
As a jump start, a friend and I personally decided to fast yesterday. We sacrificed eating, and I testify that it was only through God that I made it through.
Sitting through the second day of Lent, I am encouraged by God, my friends, and coworkers.
I look forward to the next 38 ½ days and what glory there will be of His to witness in that time.
Lord, keep me sensitive to Your Spirit that I may not fall into the spirit of worldliness and its lusts.
But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming (Romans 10:8).
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15).
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go (Joshua 1:9).
