I confess I’m not a Lent expert.
My experience with the season of Lent has been limited. But this year, I’m sensing a wooing in my heart by the Lord to accept His gentle invitation to simply say yes.
A friend of mine framed it in this way: Lent is about laying something down and picking something up.
“And calling the crowd to Him with His disciples, [Jesus] said to them, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me’” (Mark 8:34, ESV).
Jesus doesn’t ask us to do anything He hasn’t already done. In fact, He is our model. Jesus perfectly denied Himself. He took up the cross we deserve to die on and followed the will of His Father. He did this, because He loves us.
The season of Lent is a call to repentance, and God’s call to repentance is a call to life and restoration. That’s why this year for Lent, we’ve chosen to read through the Book of Isaiah together.
The vision of Isaiah is epic. It opens with an invitation for all heaven and earth to listen (Isaiah 1:20), and proceeds to call for the restoration of God’s people on a massive scale. The scope of this book covers over sixty years of prophecy, spans the reign of three kings and foretells the coming Messiah.
Isaiah’s tremendous vision still holds the truth of the gospel for us today. We can trace how God’s prophecies about the coming Messiah are fulfilled in Christ, and we need the prophet’s call to repentance just as dearly as God’s people did in 700 BC.
From a Lent devotional called “You Are Mine” by She Reads Truth
I’m creating some space during Lent to focus on God’s Word in a fresh new way. I will need to lay down other things I usually read during that time. Truthfully, I can already feel the loss of it. But, I have a feeling my gain will be far greater.
Prepare your heart this Lent season with this 40-day devotional.
“Calling the crowd to join His disciples, [Jesus] said, ‘Anyone who intends to come with Me has to let Me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow Me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, My way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?’” (Mark 8:34-37, The Message)
What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?
The real you, whom Jesus loves.
The real you, who hears Him speak “You are Mine,” when we have the heart to hear it.
Stacey Thacker is a wife and the mother of four girls. She is a Bible teacher with a passion to connect with women and encourage them in their walks with God. Her books include “Hope for the Weary Mom,” “Fresh Out of Amazing” and “Is Jesus Worth It?” You can find her blogging at staceythacker.com and hanging out on Instagram and Twitter @staceythacker usually with a cup of coffee in her hand.
A few hours after Stacey originally posted this article on Feb 23, 2017, her husband, Mike, suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. She says her Lenten season was spent in the hospital, clinging desperately to Jesus.
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