Today begins my first intentional journey through Lent. For me, even the road leading up to this Lenten season has been both tremendously encouraging and spiritually challenging. My study of the history and practice of Lent has opened my eyes to many aspects of our Christian faith and spiritual disciplines, which, I, personally, and we, as a church, have too often neglected. So this morning I begin in faith, and with a little fear, a time of self-examination, fasting and repentance. I hope to be able, as much as possible, to share my personal Lenten journey with you on this blog.

But herein lies one of my first obstacles. I have decided to give up media for Lent. What does that mean? Here is how one online dictionary defines the term “media” . . .

Media is the mass-communication industry comprising journalism and entertainment. It is a term derived from the concept of an industry communicating through different media, e.g., newspapers, television, films, magazines, the world wide web, etc.

I usually begin our worship service at Abbott each week with a reminder that we live in a world that is constantly competing for our attention and our affections. For me, this happens most frequently through the Internet and television. I want to try and quiet those voices for a time so that I may listen more carefully for the voice of the Lord speaking to my heart.

So my question is, how do I maintain a blog while fasting from the Internet? I am not sure, but here is my strategy. I still plan on keeping up with email correspondence during Lent. So I am going to write my blog entry each morning and email it to our web master, who will in turn, post it here for you. We’ll see how things work.

Most posts won’t usually be this long. I plan to include just a daily Scripture verse, a thought for the day and a short prayer.

So here we go . . .

Today is Ash Wednesday. Why ash? Ashes have been recognized throughout history as a symbol of mourning and repentance. There are many passages in Scripture that show us this, like Job 42:5-6,

“My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

(See also Jeremiah 6:26, Daniel 9:3, Matthew 11:21)

But ashes have also symbolized mortality. In Ash Wednesday services where ashes are imposed upon the foreheads of the worshippers, it is done so with the words, “Remember, thou art dust, and to dust thou shall return.” These are the words God spoke to Adam in Genesis 3:19.

So it is a time to contemplate our death and the sin that caused it.

Romans 5:12 reminds us, “Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.”

Solomon speaks of the value of contemplating our death in Ecclesiastes 7:1-2,

“A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.”

But our death is not the only death we contemplate today. More important than our own is the death of our savior, Jesus.

Hebrews 2:14-15 points us to the hope we have because of Jesus’ death,

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

Let me encourage you now to step out in faith and join me on this Lenten journey. Remembering our sin and our Savior, our death and his. Let us use this time to prepare ourselves for Easter and the celebration of Christ’s triumph over the grave.

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