Coach’s Contemplations,
Here we are starting again the Season of Lent. Much has been said about the penitence and solemnity of Lent. It is a time of fasting, prayer, and reflection on our unworthiness as the recipients of God’s Grace.
We have talked about Isaiah 58 and the proper attitude of fasting.
Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--
when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Something struck me while contemplating the drastic shift in themes between Epiphany and Lent. Epiphany focuses on celebrating the abundance of God’s blessings poured out on all people. Then Lent focuses on fasting and doing without. A contrast so vividly illustrated in New Orleans when at Midnight on Mardi Gras the police close down the revelry because Mardi Gras is over and Ash Wednesday has begun.
But in the understanding of a true attitude or motivation of fasting being to bless others the two truly do go hand in hand. Having our selves received the infinite blessings of Christ and His Grace we are now equipped to be His instruments of blessing to others.
In this Lenten Season we see Jesus fast from His abundance and use it to save us and He calls upon us to do the same. To use the wealth of blessings He has given us not for ourselves but to bless others.
Here we are starting again the Season of Lent. Much has been said about the penitence and solemnity of Lent. It is a time of fasting, prayer, and reflection on our unworthiness as the recipients of God’s Grace.
We have talked about Isaiah 58 and the proper attitude of fasting.
Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--
when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Something struck me while contemplating the drastic shift in themes between Epiphany and Lent. Epiphany focuses on celebrating the abundance of God’s blessings poured out on all people. Then Lent focuses on fasting and doing without. A contrast so vividly illustrated in New Orleans when at Midnight on Mardi Gras the police close down the revelry because Mardi Gras is over and Ash Wednesday has begun.
But in the understanding of a true attitude or motivation of fasting being to bless others the two truly do go hand in hand. Having our selves received the infinite blessings of Christ and His Grace we are now equipped to be His instruments of blessing to others.
In this Lenten Season we see Jesus fast from His abundance and use it to save us and He calls upon us to do the same. To use the wealth of blessings He has given us not for ourselves but to bless others.
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