a good use of time...

The season of Lent is upon us and for someone who did not grow up observing this time on the Christian calendar, there is a freshness about it that might not be there had I done it my whole life. There is something transcendent about this season. Knowing that believers around the world are observing it, each in their own way, is amazing and encouraging to me. And since I have, for the most part, grown out of the legalistic faith I once had, I see this time, not necessarily as giving something up, but as a time for renewal, a spiritual awakening of sorts. A few years ago, this time would have been about me... what I can give up, and how I would inevitably fail at it. But this season is about Christ and what He gave up. The Lord has graciously shown me over the years that if what I am doing does not have the right spirit behind it, I am just like the Pharisees. Last night, at my girls Bible study that meets downtown, we were talking about Lent and how we would be observing it this year. And one friend said that she wanted to allow the Lord to speak to her each day about what it was He wanted to show her or teach her. I thought - what a great idea but that it would be difficult for me knowing I tend to forget to stop and listen to the Lord. And I can't use Saige as an excuse for that, I have always lacked discipline in that area. Well anyways, this morning I read this quote by one of the great 17th century Christian mystics, Francis Fenelon:

"A general rule for the good use of time is to accustom oneself to live in a continual dependence on the Spirit of God, receiving from moment to moment whatever it pleases him to give us, referring to him at once in the doubts which we necessarily run into, turning to him in the weakness into which goodness slips from exhaustion, calling on him and lifting oneself to him, when the heart, swept away by material things, sees itself led imperceptibly off the path and finds itself forgetting and drifting away from God."

This is something to think about everyday of the year, not just during Lent, but I do think it is a great time to begin this 'good use of time.' The funny thing is, is that this quote was in the marriage book I am reading - "A Sacred Marriage" by Gary Thomas (an excellent read BTW). I love that the Lord speaks to us in such subtle ways.

As we journey with Christ to the cross, may we be keenly aware of his presence and the truth that if he hadn't gone to the cross we would be living this life without hope, peace or a relationship with our Creator.