Devotion - Thursday, February 18

It is encouraging and heartening to overhear conversations about Lenten disciplines. I speak of overhearing, because I overhear more often than engage in direct conversation. There may be a reason for this – a reason which I would like to explore with you now.

I am always, always heartened by conversations about Lenten disciplines, always. But some disciplines would appear to be more beneficial than others. It isn’t simply that we commit ourselves to something; it is that we commit ourselves to that which will deepen our love for God and prepare us to more fully celebrate the Easter Proclamation. (It is tough to address this without sounding critical. Please, do not hear this as a criticism of whatever discipline you have taken on. It is pastoral advice for your spiritual journey.)

A Lenten discipline is not about self-improvement, it is about improving our relationship with God. We are not trying to make ourselves more acceptable to God; we are trying to open ourselves up to the entrance of God into our lives.

In My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers writes: “The emphasis of holiness movements is apt to be that God is producing specimens of holiness to put in His museum. If you go off on this idea of personal holiness, the dead-set of your life will not be for God, but for what you call the manifestation of God in your life.”

A Lenten discipline is not a second take at a New Year’s resolution. It is not about self-improvement. While any discipline will serve to make us more aware of our desire to serve God, not all disciplines have God at the center. A discipline may have may side benefits, but no side benefit should outweigh the central aim. It is not our individual holiness which God seeks; it is a life lived as Christ would have us live.