Lent

I grew up in a church that gave me some very wonderful basics and taught me to love Jesus. That lovely church also seemed to have a very big emphasis on being anti-catholic. What I mean by this is that in retrospect, it seemed to have no real traditions and made a huge point of proclaiming that the sacraments were acts of obedience, not salvation (of which I still agree). I think the only reason we ever did any sacraments (baptism and the Lord's supper) were out of obedience. We had no statues, no liturgy, nothing that would possibly tempt us to put value on anything other than our relationship with Jesus. I think this is a wonderful motivation, but I felt a little left-out.

Now, I should say that this may not be the official position of this particular church in that particular denomination, but that's what I got from it. When I grew up and had the opportunity to attend churches of other denominations, I often became pious and scoffed at the traditions and formalities observed. I took the importance placed on these formalities to judge their motives and their hearts, all-the-while still feeling left-out.

Then I listened.

It was really beautiful. I hadn't really paid much attention to the creeds or how it may sound to Jesus to hear His people in unison, proclaiming their faith in Him. I was moved almost to tears. I became a huge fan of liturgy, though for just a short while (I'm a bit rebellious and don't like people to tell me what to do or how to worship - I'm working on that, remember!). I have since found some real value in observing traditions with which I did not grow up.

Lent is one such tradition.

Without any instruction, I have chosen to try and make the next weeks leading up to Easter a time to truly focus myself on hearing from Him. I'm not one to remove something from my diet or stop a behavior that I shouldn't be doing anyway. Instead, I'm going to try and insert a time each day that I will be still and listen for His still, small voice.

This may sound like such a simple thing, and it is. It is not easy. I don't often come to the Throne without many, many words. I'm a talker. He knows that, too. I really want to be a listener. I want to be one of those people who can hear God speak frequently. I've had my big moment of personal revelation, but I really want to be in full conversation with God; full meaning two-way.

I'm excited about this Lenten Season. I can't wait to hear what God says to me! It's pretty incredible that the Lord of the universe and creator of all things would actually WANT to have those private conversations with me. How can I resist? I am no longer feeling left-out.