The church commemorates Jesus’ journey in the wilderness each year during the 40 days of Lent. Some of us fast. Some of us spend a little more time than usual in prayer and contemplation. But do we allow ourselves to be tested? Are we willing to venture into the wilderness having chosen a side in the eternal struggle between God’s way and ours?
If the temptation of Jesus was a way in which Jesus proved who he said he was, then what is it that we are proving each Lent? Who do we say we are, when we call ourselves Christians? Just as Jesus’ baptismal calling was unique to the circumstance of his time and place, our own lives may each call for a different way of living out what we say we believe. At the heart of it are the two greatest commandments: to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
This message is excerpted from “Into the wilderness for Lent” by Sarah Carson in the January/February 2022 Gather magazine.
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