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Jesus is out in the wilderness having his standards tested. Anything could happen out there, yet he is willing to go, to follow where he is led, to trust that he has chosen rightly and that seeking righteousness will lead him where he needs to be. And then, of course, he comes back.
Do we allow ourselves to be tested? Are we willing to venture out 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 circumstances of his place and time, 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 neighbor.
This message is excerpted from “Into the wilderness for Lent” by Sarah Carson in the January/February 2022 Gather magazine. Today is the First Sunday in Lent.