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Great Lent Begins

I had a dream last night. It may have come about because I was thinking about writing devotionals for Great Lent as I fell asleep or it may have been the bowl of ice cream smothered in chocolate syrup I consumed in the afternoon. Either way, I awakened from that dream knowing that it was to be the beginning of this devotional on Clean Monday. Here’s some of that dream:

I was speaking in a church fellowship hall. When I finished, all the people were eating and talking as I gathered up my equipment. I overheard someone say: “I liked his talk okay, except that he kept telling us that we needed to give our whole life to the Lord.” I stood up and raised my voice so that everyone quit talking. Then very loudly, I said: “We all will give our life to something, why not give it to the Lord?”

I awakened pondering this dream. What does it mean for us to “commit our whole life unto Christ our God?” I do not think that it means we all need to go live in a cave and spend our whole life in deep prayer. Rather, it has to do with us learning to put the Lord first in our lives in everything we do. The church helps us by giving us this time of Great Lent. We have the next several weeks to grow in this area. That can seem overwhelming, so let’s bring it down to a smaller, attainable goal. Can we commit our life this day to the Lord?

The very first verse we read as we begin our Lenten Journey comes from Genesis 1:1. “In the beginning God…” God is the beginning of everything for us. He gave us the gift of life and we have an opportunity to live in a way that pleases Him.

I tend to work best if I have a “To Do” list. If you have such a list, then I would encourage you to simply write “God” in the #1 slot for today. Your list may include some exciting things, mundane things, or simply things that are necessary today. Let God be in all of them today. Tonight, when you make your “To Do” list for tomorrow, put “God” as number one.

Our Lenten Journey is meant to draw us closer to the Lord. It takes our effort today and only today. May we give today to the Lord! It is the beginning of a great journey.

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