Project Description
I hope the third day of Lent finds you encouraged and taking sacrificial steps towards the abundant life Easter brings.
It’s funny how this whole Lent thing works… as we choose to intentionally die to self through the spiritual discipline of fasting (whether it’s something small like the removal of coffee or social media, or something more significant) we begin to experience pockets of desperation breaking into our otherwise tame existence. And that is when things start to get exciting…
You see, desperation is where our real journey towards life with God begins.
Anything less than desperation fools us into believing that it’s really about us — that we don’t need Him, that we can make it on our own. We all love to talk about ‘God’s filling’… Lent helps to remind us of our desperate emptiness that longs to be filled.
Where are you desperate today? Where are you feeling empty? In humility, confess these areas out loud in prayer to God and ask to be filled.
reflect > repent > RECIEVE…
Embolden by the new-found lightness repentance brings, you find yourself rushing ahead into the desert. With each step Jesus’ loving and constant pace reminds you to slow down. ‘Stay close’ he says, ‘I don’t want you lost and lapping this forsaken place.’
All at once the journey grinds to a halt… you’re circling a well-known and beautiful tree. Without reflection, you begin to reach out to take hold of the fruit – everything falls to black.
You awaken at the feet of Jesus to the smell of freshly caught fish cooking over an open fire. As you share the meal He has prepared, you feel your life restored.
In between bites, Jesus takes time to recount the harrowing story of the tree in the desert… how you reached out for the fruit, how you fell utterly incapacitated, how he vouched for you to keep you safe, how he blazed a straight trail through the desert while carrying you on his back, how he brought you through the water to purchase the first-fruits of this new and better land, and how he caught fish along the way.
It was all you could do to just eat and listen – receiving all that he had to give.
