“[On Ash Wednesday] we recognize life as a precious gift from God, and re-turn our lives towards Jesus Christ.”
—The Upper Room Ministries

This morning I was going through my emails and also contemplating what to share on this first day of Lent. The subject line of an email caught my attention: “The Life You Want to Live.”

Those words should define not only Lent, but also every day of my life, of your life? When I think of Lent I think of this 40 day period when I try to live a more spiritual life. (And I’m not even talking about the fact that Jesus faced an extra bounty of temptations from Satan during that time).

Lent marks the 40 days that Jesus spent alone in the desert in prayer and fasting. Obviously Jesus lived and modeled THE spiritual life, but He still needed those 40 days. Temptation aside, shouldn’t my life be filled with prayer and fasting EVERY day (okay, maybe not fasting every day)? Shouldn’t my life be aimed or at least regularly sprinkled with times of reflection, focusing on my relationship with God, more so than it is now?

These days of Lent are often marked by letting go, sacrificing…often choosing perhaps to give up something. Some times the “sacrifice” comes in the form of start something a new, perhaps a discipline of prayer or stewardship. Again, why just during Lent?

Sure, taking the concentrated 40-day efforts of Lent and wishing them to stretch well beyond that might be a stretch. But if I make a concentrated effort at the discipline of prayer and fasting during Lent, perhaps those disciplines will become habits that change my life forever.

Joel 2:12-14
Yet even now, says the Lord,
Return to me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
Rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
and relents from punishing.
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain-offering and a drink-offering
for the Lord, your God?