To Lent or No to Lent

Last year was the first year that i took lent seriously and Gave something up. I gave up HALO a first person Shooter Video game. At the time HALO was consuming almost all of my spare time. and i defended it by saying things like; "It's how i relieve stress and unwind" At the end of the forty days i felt truly blessed spiritually, in my family live, and physically. So when lent was over i continued my hiatus from the particular video game. I didn't give up gaming because without HALO i don't play a fraction of the time i used to.

Now a year later i no longer own Halo (I do play on a rare occasion with the teens of the corps but that is ministry.

Lent was such a blessing last year that i decided to do it again but... like last year i wanted to do something that could become permanent after the Lenten season. So i decided to give up 'time'. Time is our most valuable commodity is today's society and God doesn't get enough of mine.

If you know me you may be thinking: "What do you mean? You work for him. He gets most of your time." But there is a difference between working 'for' him and spending time 'with' him.

As a ministry it can become easy to confuse the 'for' and the 'with'. I read scripture every day whether it is preparing a sermon or bible study or just looking for the right thing to say when counseling someone. but while God is with me in those times they are not a substitute for a proper devotional time (don't ever use the term 'quiet time' but that is fodder for another blog)

This year i have gone the route of a traditional 40 day devotional book that i will faithfully (i pray) complete each day. Instead of giving something up i hope to add something.