Lent Day 10, Friday, March 14, 2025

“No Meat Today”

Today is a repeat Challenge from last week: “No Meat Today”. As mentioned last Friday, the tradition of not consuming meat on Fridays during Lent dates back at least 1,000 years. The Church adopted the tradition because meat is often referenced as a symbol of the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ on Good Friday. By avoiding meat on Fridays, such as beef, poultry, and pork, we honor the LORD.

Don’t worry. If you’ve already consumed a sausage patty or piece of pepperoni pizza, don’t sweat it. Just count backward to the last meat you consumed, and start counting from there. All you need is 24 hours, and you’re home free!

See how easy it is? Some of us are already halfway through this Challenge because our last meat consumption was sometime yesterday. For others, though, it’s time to begin your Challenge. Remember, the purpose of our Lenten Challenges is to do something for God every day. Since each day brings a new Challenge, it allows us the opportunity to be successful at something every day. If we miss one, that’s okay! We’ll get another Challenge tomorrow, or we could even make up today’s Challenge some other time.

Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy! Refrain from consuming meat for 24 hours and give some love to the LORD today!

“The LORD gives food to every living thing. God’s faithful love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:25, NLT)

—————

Lent Day 9, Thursday, March 13, 2025

“Help Someone Today”

I’m guessing that today feels like every other day this week. Granted, we are just one more day away from the weekend, but otherwise, most of us are motoring through with little change from yesterday or last week. I’m not suggesting that today will be different, but I am about to make a very big assumption: Someone needs your help today.

Rest easy. I’m not foreseeing that you are about to embark on some huge, complicated task, such as helping someone move into a new home (that’s about the worst “help” I can think of). Instead, I’m suggesting that our focus needs to be on other people today.

Today is National Good Samaritan Day (Luke 10:25-37). Like the story of the Good Samaritan, I suppose that we may encounter a serious situation that mandates an intense, immediate focus. However, it’s more likely that our good deed(s) today are smaller, less obvious tasks.

For instance, if we see our neighbor trying to get their groceries unloaded and into their home, can we help? Could we help a coworker with a project, or could we lift someone’s day by giving them a call? If we encounter someone that we don’t like, can we be nice, courteous, or even helpful to them?

Today’s Challenge for Lent is to find a way to help someone. It can be a big help, a little help, or somewhere in between. But it’s my guess that we will encounter multiple opportunities to show someone else that they matter. Don’t overlook it.

Helping someone else feel noticed, important, and special is a really, really big deal.

Lent is about doing something for God. Let’s love God by loving others today: give some help!

“So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all and especially for those of the family of faith.” (Galatians 6:10, NRSVUE)

—————

Lent Day 8, Wednesday, March 12, 2025

“Clean and Organize Today”

What needs to be cleaned? What needs to be organized? Today’s the day to do it!

It is highly likely that everyone has something that needs to be cleaned and organized. Now, before you go to that nightmare closet in the hallway or the terrible drawer in the kitchen, today’s Challenge DOES NOT include those things. We’re gonna tackle those monsters next weekend.

Instead, today is about some of those things we’ve been staring at for much too long. The home office is one option. The laundry room is another idea. Your desk at a place of employment definitely qualifies, as does the floor under the desk. Another great idea for cleaning and organizing might be the handles and surface areas on appliances, bathroom and kitchen faucets, toilets, showers, or bathtubs. Our vehicle might especially need some attention, not to mention the bed of the truck.

We have plenty of options for today’s Lente Devotion. The reason we are addressing this task is that disorganization and uncleanliness impact other parts of life. It also impacts our relationship with others, since most of us have probably fallen victim to the surprise visit from our favorite aunt or neighbor when our place was a wreck.

Although our need to clean and organize shouldn’t need an explanation, it always helps to have a reminder. It also is a great way to be productive and efficient in our day. Don’t worry. This Challenge won’t change our lives, but we might be surprised how much better we will feel after we sweep up the stuff that we swept under the rug last week.

“With promises like this to pull us on, dear friends, let’s make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without. Let’s make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1, The Message)

—————

Lent Day 7, Tuesday, March 11, 2025

“Tell Someone You Love Them”

Here’s something that’s a bit different: tell someone you love them. How often do we say it? How often do we hear it? For some of us, this will be simple because we will have a variety of folks from which to choose. However, for others, this Lenten Challenge will be exceedingly difficult for a number of reasons.

Maybe that’s why this Challenge makes the cut every year: Maybe this Challenge is specifically designed for those of us who are blessed with lots of loved ones, recognizing that others don’t have the blessings of lots of people who care for us.

Oh, this isn’t about trying to create problems for anyone. Instead, this is about helping to create solutions. For lots of reasons, including health, wellness, and self-image (to name just a few), we need to take some time to consider how much our loved ones contribute to our well-being. What if we didn’t have someone checking in on us? What if we didn’t have someone who wanted to track our location or nag us about our diets? Would we feel free and untethered, or would we feel lost and forgotten?

The Bible is very clear on the most important thing in our world – love. Whether we are to love God today or simply love one another, make sure to communicate that our love is important to the other person. That’s right: God probably appreciates when we tell Him that we love and appreciate all that the LORD does for us. Sure, God doesn’t necessarily need us to say or do anything, but goodness! Communicating our love for the LORD through each other sure does sound like a positive step to take as we complete the first week of this Lenten Season.

Today’s Challenge for Lent is a good one. Tell someone you love them, and this includes the LORD!

“My dear friends, we must love each other. Love comes from God, and when we love each other, it shows we have been given new life. We are now God's children, and we know him.” (1 John 4:7, CEV)

—————

Lent Day 6, Monday, March 10, 2025

“Make Today a Good Day”

If there’s a day people need to excuse nasty behavior, today would be the most likely chosen. The first Monday in Lent is about as exciting as waiting in line at the State Revenue Office. One could randomly pick any other day on the calendar and not have near the dull gloom as one would have today.

If you feel more like Grumpy Dwarf than Snow White, today probably feels like home. Maybe that’s why this Lenten Challenge makes the final cut each year. The author of these devotions would like to be as carefree as a fairy tale princess, but in reality, this author feels more like an off-beat, awkward minor character than a star in the spotlight. Forcing today to be a good day could be difficult for hundreds of reasons, but there are millions more reasons why today should be a good day.

First, anyone who is reading this devotion is alive. Second, everyone reading this has access to some kind of electronic communication, and third, most of us have at least one friend because they sent this article to us. Even if we accidentally stumbled upon this devotion, it wasn’t by accident. In some way, we were directed here.

Why are we here? Maybe because we need a good day. Much too often, we overlook the good things that occur for us, through us, and around us each day. We do make a difference, even if it’s only to the birds we feed on our back porch. Our presence provides life and joy in all kinds of ways, but especially for God. God isn’t through with us yet! In fact, for just about all of us, the best part of this life is still in front of us.

Today is your day because God has offered it to you as a way to bless, comfort, and honor you. Smile today, and make today a good day!

“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24, ESV)

—————

Sunday, March 9
“Commit to Something for Lent”

On the first Sunday of the Lenten Season, we are asked to consider making a commitment to God for the next six weeks. The commitment, whether to do something specific or refrain from certain things, is made between the person and God. Nobody else needs to be involved unless desired. This can be as private and personal as anyone wishes, as long as we understand that God is not going to grade us on our performance.

The ancient Church tradition of making Lenten sacrifices stems from the thought that we should do something for God since God has done something for us. God’s gift of Jesus to save the world is the best gift we could have received, but the gift was not well-received. The gift was rejected by the people it was intended for, but that still didn’t stop God’s desire to offer us an opportunity to be forgiven so that we may have a new start.

During the next six weeks, consider making a commitment to God. The commitment might be something simple, like following these devotions and participating in the challenges. Or, the commitment might be something that is a much bigger deal for an extended period of time. Whatever we choose, make the choice in the honor of the LORD. Be strong. Be Courageous. Be Bold.

The LORD is very pleased with each of us. None of us are completely lost. None of us are without hope. That’s what God’s gift of Jesus satisfies…our bad habit of thinking we aren’t good enough or worthy of the LORD’s attention. God proves our love towards us by offering a plan of salvation that anyone (and everyone) can choose to accept.

This Lenten Season, commit to God. Make it Bold. We’ve lived on the edges long enough to know we aren’t invincible. We need to have something in life that is more centered, helpful, and hopeful. A relationship with God is just that. Be Bold and commit to the LORD during Lent!

“Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.” (Proverbs 16:3, NLT)