Lent and Cardboard Testimonies

Last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Countless Christians across the globe attended Ash Wednesday services and my church was no different. But this service, as in many churches in our country, is not the most well-attended service. Neither is Good Friday. Contrast that with Christmas and Easter services. Why the difference? I have heard it said by some that they don’t like to focus on the subject of sin. It’s depressing. It’s one thing to celebrate birth and resurrection, and another to sit and face your failings and shortcomings for a whole hour.

To that I say sure. I understand. I don’t like re-living my past mistakes and enduring the pain of it over and over. So I don’t. That’s not what Lent is about. It’s about remembering our tendency to sin and our need for God to forgive us. It’s about God wiping our slate clean and re-creating clean hearts in us, enabling us to walk closely with Him, instead of trying to hide from Him. It’s about remembering God’s power to transform us into Overcomers and Rejoicers who live everyday excited about what new thing God will do with and through us in that day.

I recently saw (again) a video that shows the concept of sin, forgiveness, and transformation in such a powerful way that it still affects me just as strongly as the first time I saw it. I hope that you will make time for your own testimony before God, and allow His transforming power to fill you will joy for all that He has done, is doing, and will continue to do for you and in you.