What is your plan for Lent, or are you still thinking about it?
We know that the Church suggests three areas to consider: almsgiving, prayer and fasting. Maybe we’ve already worked these into our Lenten plan. One caution, however. It is possible to say an extra prayer each day, give up chocolate, and up our Church contribution a few dollars during Lent and still remain unchanged. In fact if we take a legalistic approach to Lent and do these “extras,” it might be a way of proving our righteousness to ourselves and move us away from God.
Today’s reading from Deuteronomy (30:15-20) gives us another idea for setting up a personal Lenten plan.
Moses is addressing the people and he says, “Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the Lord your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.”
Did you catch the threefold plan?
1. Loving the Lord your God
2. Heeding (listening to) his voice
3. Holding fast to him
“Choosing life” is the goal. And “life” is all about having a deeper, closer relationship with the One who loves us more than anyone else. Moses was describing to the people his own way of life. He had met God and fallen in love with him. Above all else he wanted to keep this love relationship with God as the top priority his life. He knew what it was like to listen to God’s voice, and he longed each day to visit the Lord, hear what he had to , and then obey. And, with all his heart, he did whatever he could to hold fast to the God who was everything to him. There was no hope, no meaning in life, apart from his close connection with the living God.
Earlier in the passage he spoke about the alternative plan—the alternative choice: “If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen, but are led astray and adore other gods, I tell you now that you will certainly perish…”
Lent is all about choosing life again—turning our hearts toward God, and if there are competing idols in our lives, to turn away from them.
Jesus, the new Moses, said essentially the same thing (Luke 9:22-25): “If anyone wishes to come to me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” He didn’t give a booklet of rules and practices—just one simple choice: follow Me or follow yourself. To follow Jesus we cast our lots totally with him by wearing our crosses every day, and putting the voice of Jesus, rather than that of our own, in first place.
Homework assignment: get an index card and write out your Lenten plan. Write out Moses’ three points and recite them once a day for 40 days.
“Blessed the man who…delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on his Law day and night” (Ps 1:1-2).
(Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Psalm 1:1-4,6, Luke 9:22-25)
