In the Christian calendar we look at God’s work and miracles through specific dates, these religious rituals encompass respectful details which put the focus firmly back on God. Lent allows God to shine a focus in our life on areas where we can prune, reduce or remove things entirely. Areas which point to a much deeper part of our relationship with Him and creation. Lent is the perfect opportunity to think about what kind of fast God wants us to consider in our journey with him. Our faith needs to be demonstrated by our actions so that others can see God’s light shining in the world – we are God’s hands and feet on earth. So what about asking ourselves the question, what kind of fast does God want in us? In Isiah 58 v6, God tells us of the kind of fast he wants in us and He doesn’t specify chocolate or chips! Traditionally we give up a food, but God may be challenging us to give up something deeper, something that is hurting His world, something that is hindering the climate or causing an increase in waste in the environment.
This Lent we can take a walk in nature, or just try to be still, to hear from God to listen to His will for our life. We can ask God to search our hearts to see what change He is interested in for us specifically. “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind to give, every man according to his ways the fruit of his deeds” (Jeremiah 17 v10) , this challenging verse encourages us to see what fruit we can bear from letting God search our heart, our mind and our motives. It may be that God wants us to let go this Lent, so we can grow through what we reduce. We are on full display in front of God, but God does not want us to feel guilty, he wants us to grow through His love shown through our actions. Perhaps he is asking us to go plastic-free, or to boycott fast fashion. Maybe we feel he is prompting us to eat less meat, buy less items, reduce our waste, or cycle instead of using the car.
Whatever we feel God wants us to consider reducing or removing this Lent, we must always keep growing and increasing in one area – in love.
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Prayers for Church:
Heavenly Father, during the season of Lent, help us to consider Your great works and to think how we can be Your hands on earth. Help us to be still so that we can truly hear Your will for our Lent fast. Show us Lord how to give up the things that hinder our environment and shine a light on how we can improve our focus on the climate this Lent through cutting out or cutting down. Help us to have Your heart for Your world, so that we can reduce our waste or buy less new things. Make us accountable to you God, to show us how we can use our cars less, boycott fast-fashion or eat less meat. Show us what we can do without and help us to use this time of less, to make more room for growth through love. Give us the wisdom to care for the earth through all we do. We ask this Lent that You would search our hearts Lord and help us to shine a light on the importance of protecting Your creation. Amen
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