This last Wednesday marked the beginning of the Lent season
for most protestant churches. As I have
partook in previous Lent seasons, I felt compelled to do so again, knowing that
it might look a bit different being in Malaysia now and next month Cambodia. I started seeking the Lord a few days prior
to see what it was that He really wanted to show me during this Lent
season. As I would go to Him in prayer
and through His word, I would ask Him as well what it was that He was asking me
to give up, (not to just give something up, just for the sake of giving
something up, but really as a means of releasing myself from its hold). And actually all my answers came to me a few
days after the Lent season officially began.
God was
and is calling me to be the aroma of Christ. During this Lent season He is taking away but adding more to this “soup”
that I call my life. The troubles of
life “the fire” will heat up in me and cause the aroma to be that much more
potent. My call in all of this is to remain obedient and
allow Christ to add the flavorings ie His revelations, knowing that at the end
of this season, I will be looking and smelling more and more like Christ.
So now
I get to the section of what He has actually called me to. It came to my attention the other day as I
was a bit bored at the ministry site. I was in charge of sitting in the shower
room at Kawan (Homeless feeding center) helping hand people
razors/soaps/toothbrushes etc… and no one was up there to help out, so I pulled
out my ipod and started playing some games. I realized that I was wasting time with things that really didn’t matter
at all, so I am giving up playing games on my ipod and instead have started
memorizing 6 verses a week of the Sermon on the Mount. It is my hope that by the end of this race I
will have the whole sermon memorized and be familiar with its teaching.
The
Lent season isn’t just about giving things up but more so is a call of
reflection and repentance in preparation for Easter. As I was already reflecting on areas that I need
to work on, the good Lord revealed to me that I don’t take every thought
captive. Now as a youth I was told that
it is important to take every thought captive, especially when it came to sexuality but never have I thought that God
knows my thoughts and doesn’t like them at times.
I have to confess that I am not a very
talkative person, but some of that reason is because if I spoke what was on my
mind, I would not be considered a very nice person. So God now is calling me to literally take
every thought captive and not only take them captive but reflect and repent
when necessary. But there is still more,
He has asked me to journal the main areas of my day that I did not take captive
and share them on my blog, so my goal is every week, write a journal of the
weeks thoughts and share them with all of you. I pray that during this season, I will find release and that others may
be encouraged to do the same, for when Easter comes around I want Him to be
pleased with this new aroma emitting from me.
