The Jesus Creed

The Jesus Creed from DanStevers.com on Vimeo.

The yearly calendar is racing ahead. Fortunately, for those of us in the northern part of the states, the doldrums and darkness of winter are about to end. Amen. For the church calendar, this means that we begin the season of Lent (for those who observe it), and move on toward Good Friday and Easter.

What is Lent? I'm glad you asked. The Easter season actually begins 40 days before Easter Sunday, on Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.

Today is Ash Wednesday. The 40 days of Lent are meant to correspond to and symbolize the time that Jesus spent being tempted by Satan in the desert before his public ministry started. This occurred immediately after His baptism by his cousin, John the Baptist.

During Lent, we are intended to examine our hearts, be more observant of our behavior and increase our diligence about putting away our sinful behaviors. Many people give something up for Lent, like chocolate or cursing, or something along those lines.

This period is a reminder that following Christ means that we should be "dying to ourselves every day."

Let us take this opportunity to look deeply into our hearts and scrutinize our lives. Are we where we want to be in our spiritual lives? Do we like who we have become?

Christ left us with ONLY two commands, love God and love others.

What would it look like, how would our days feel, if for the next 40 days, we really made an effort to go the extra mile to show some love to and for each other?