What is Lent and why does it last 40 days? Lent is a season of forty days, not counting Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. Lent comes from the Anglo Saxon word lencten, which means spring. The forty days represents the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, enduring the temptation of Satan and preparing to begin his ministry. Lent is a time of repentance, fasting and preparation for the coming of Easter. It is a time of self-examination and reflection. In the early church, Lent was a time to prepare new converts for baptism. Today, Christians focus on their relationship with God, often choosing to give up something or to volunteer and give of themselves for others. Sundays in Lent are not counted in the forty days because each Sunday represents a mini-Easter and the reverent spirit of Lent is tempered with joyful anticipation of the Resurrection. Day 1 Read Matthew 1:1, 1:17 Click to daily reading The gospel of Matthew begins by giving the family line of Jesus. But what could be so important about a family tree? God first made His covenant of promise with Abraham. The Messiah God promised to send was to come from the family line of David. The fact that Jesus was born into this family tree tells us that He is the promised Messiah. As the Messiah, even better then the family tree into which Christ was born, is the fact that on the cross Jesus brought us into His family tree. We have all been made children of God, and are given all the promises and blessings of being His child. Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son, and for bringing me into your family through His death on the cross. Amen
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 15:30:04 +0000
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