Today we consider Paul’s words in Colossians 1:27 – “Christ lives in you.” When Paul is discussing his famous “thorn in the flesh” in 2 Corinthians 12, he champions his weakness because he knows that when he is weak, “Christ can work through me.”
This Sunday is the first Sunday during Lent. We are going to be spending a good bit of time in the coming weeks talking about a different way to pray called imaginative prayer to encourage us to see ourselves in the Gospel stories.
Today seems like a good time to reflect on our relationship with time. Lent is an intentional disruption of time to awaken us to the presence of the Lord in everyday life. Today, consider incorporating an ancient prayer practice known as the daily office.
Whether we like to admit it or not, we spend most of our time thinking about ourselves. “Less of me, more of you.” Spend a minute right now saying this prayer repeatedly. Make that your prayer today. That is at the heart of Lent.
How are you going to ensure that your commitment to fasting remains spiritually driven and doesn’t get pushed to the side by other obligations? At the heart of Lent is a renewed focus (and reflection) on our relationship with God in everything we do.
Christian fasting, for various reasons, largely has become a foreign concept. Considering how often fasting appears in the Bible, it is surprising that it has been nudged to the edge of church life.
There is debate about whether attention spans are getting shorter or just changing, but whatever we might conclude, it is obvious that our attention is more divided than ever.
