On Wednesday we discussed Lent with our youth group and I thought of something that I don't think I've mentioned here yet. While our youth pastor spoke he mentioned that when we fast we often begin to think that just giving up that little thing will make us right with God. We remember that "faith without works is dead" (James 2:17), and so we say, "Well, I'm sacrificing this or that, so I must be in good with God. I'm glad that's all I need to do."
But with this attitude we are completely disregarding that God would rather have relationship over religion any day! He wants to know us and be known by us, not to just know that we followed some procedure that makes us look like we know Him. He wants to work within us and change us so that we begin to want to sacrifice the things of this world to know Him better. As He said in Hosea 6:6, "I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings."
I say all this not to imply that practicing Lent, or any other season of fasting, is bad or offers nothing for our relationship with God. I just believe that we must check our motivations in fasting. We should not just give something up, but replace it with acts of worship, whether that's singing His praises, reading His word, serving His people, or having a quiet conversation with Him. And, hopefully, in doing this we create new, refreshing, and sustainable habits of worship.
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