Time

 Did you know that near the end of his life, Moses gave the people of Israel the instruction to read the book of the Law out loud to everyone in the community every few years to ensure that everyone hears it and understands it? Did you know that this is not the only place where the people are told that they should read over the book of the Law on a regular basis?

God wants to be sure that His people are reading His Word so that they know what it is that He has told them to do, so that they can know Him better, and so that they can understand His love. 

With all of that said, how often do you open your Bible? Is it daily? A couple times a week? Sundays only? Not even Sundays?

Ok. Now I want you to think about something else…

Did you know that there are hundreds of countries around the world where people are subject to sanctioned theft, imprisoned, tortured, and/or killed simply because they were caught with a Bible, let alone if they were caught reading it? And most of these countries are poorer that us, which means that people are reading after working ridiculously long hours for ridiculously low pay just to put food on their tables for their families.

And you don’t have time to read your Bible?

Really?

If you read your Bible regularly, then I would ask that you pray for those who don’t and for those who are persecuted for it.

If you don’t read your Bible regularly, then I would suggest you pray about it and see what God has to say. But, if you just open your Bible and read, I think you’ll find His answer.

Lent (a.k.a., that time before Easter)

Had a conversation yesterday with a young member of my (Aimee's) church. I was asked to pick her up from school and we were riding home. She asked if we could play some music. I told her that I gave up my radio for Lent so that I could, instead, use that time to pray. 

She thought about my words for a moment and then said to me: "I've thought about giving something up for Lent, but I'm not Catholic."

I thought about what she said for a moment, making sure I understood her (after all, we go to the same church, and have for almost 10 years now). Then I said to her, "Well, I'm not Catholic either."

I was raised in a church that encouraged sacrifice at Lent. It's something that I remember doing throughout my childhood. I wasn't raised Baptist. But I wasn't Catholic either. I'm not sure where the idea came from that you have to be Catholic to observe Lent. Personally, being someone who was raised observing it, and enjoyed doing it, I would encourage anyone to try it.

Observing Lent is all about preparing our hearts and minds for Easter. It's about remembering what Christ suffered for us. The practice of giving something up at Lent is meant to honor His sacrifice. We can never duplicate what He did. We can never pay it back. And we can never fully understand it (in this life). But our own act of sacrificing something that matters to us is a little way of moving just a little closer to understanding.

Also, it's a great conversation starter with those friends who don't know Jesus when they want to know why you aren't listening to your radio, or why you aren't eating sweets, or whatever it is.