John Wesley would open every Methodist Class Meeting with the question “How is it with your soul?” It speaks to the well-being of our spiritual life. We are now almost halfway through Lent and so I ask you, “How is it with your soul?”

           Lent is the time when we prepare for the upcoming celebration of Easter but it is more than that. For some it is a time to “give-up” something but if you ask why, many people do not know, it is just the way things are. Everyone just gives up something for Lent. But it wasn’t always the case. 

           Growing up, Ash Wednesday and giving something up for Lent was a “Catholic thing.” In the church where I grew up, Lent was just the Sundays before Easter but we really didn’t do anything special.

            Today we know Lent as a season of conversion, a time where we acknowledge that we have turned away from God. It is a time where we look within ourselves, a time where we search our souls and on turning our hearts and minds back toward God. As such, Lent is the season of prayer and fasting to help us turn away from worldly distractions and to turn back to God.

               Giving up something for Lent is ultimately a form of fasting. We can deprive ourselves of some small pleasure or indulgence and offer that sacrifice up to God. The Bible study I participated in last year invited us to give up a bad habit and replace it with one that will improve our relationship with God, make a lasting change in our lives. But whether you give up that much loved chocolate for seven weeks or you replace your bad habit with a positive change, the intention is to help us get our souls … our lives right with God.

               We live in a world where most of us run it seems 24/7. We grab meals on the run, we sleep minimal, and for most people in our churches today, we “recharge” our spiritual batteries at worship on Sunday. We are so often running on low or nearly empty that we think this is how things are, but God did not make us so that we are constantly running like the hamster on a wheel. God created us so that God could have a personal relationship with each of us. God gave us live to enjoy and not just rush from one thing to the next.

             We need time to have family meals together, to laugh and talk together. We need time to get good, blessed sleep. (You do know, naps are God’s gift and who would say no to such a wonderful gift!) And most important, we need to spend time, quality time, with our loving Father so that you can answer Wesley’s question with “My soul is wonderful! PRAISE GOD!”

             So this Lenten season, go ahead and eat that chocolate. Instead, give up some of your rushing around and spend time with God. Slow down, enjoy the season of Lent, let God guide you in ways that will fill your soul. Find ways to balance it with this busy hectic life we live. Spend time daily in conversation, in prayer, with our Abba. Replace bad or unhealthy action with one that will sustain you. Take up daily devotions, try spiritual journaling or maybe music, listening to the old hymns, learning some new praise and worship music.

            My prayer this Lenten season is that each of us will take time to be in the presence of the One who loves us so much that He gave His Son for us. My prayer is that each of us will intentionally start a new “habit” – a good “habit” to recharge our spiritual batteries daily, a habit that will continue even after Easter Sunday, a habit that will continue each day of our lives.

            Again, I ask you “How is it with your soul?”

 

                                                               Fly with Christ,

                                                               Pastor Linda Yarrow