Lent is a season of repentance, recommitment, and renewal. One common image used in Lent is the wilderness, a place where Israel wandered for 40 years, following God, and a place where Jesus was led by the Spirit to prepare for his ministry. The wilderness is a place where we often feel lost, alone, and tested. And yet, it is a normal part of the Christian road. We wander the wilds of Lent with Jesus, growing in his ways, learning from him, and trusting God to lead us to the Promised Land.
March 29 | Sixth Sunday in Lent: Gentle and Lowly
On Palm Sunday we reflect on Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. From this, we are told that the King comes “gentle and lowly.” What does this mean for us, who follow, worship, and are saved by this king?
March 22 | Fifth Sunday in Lent: Can These Bones Yet Live?
When we look at the wilderness of life, we can be distracted by the dryness, overwhelmed by the scattered bones of things that once felt alive. We ask, “Can these bones yet live?!”
God once asked that question to the prophet Ezekiel, who was looking at bones that were the remains of Israel and Judah. But God affirms a powerful truth: Yes these bones can live! Through God’s word and the breath of his spirit, anything can live—indeed, we live now.
March 15 | Fourth Sunday in Lent: Thou Art With Me
Psalm 23 is a poem of trust in God. David centers this poem around 2 Hebrew words, translated, “For you (are) with me.” There are 24 words before these words and 24 after. All of David’s hope and trust flows through these words. From him, we learn to say as he did, “Thou art with me.”
March 8 | Third Sunday in Lent: Living Water
Jesus met a woman at a well in Samaria and offered to her water that would keep her from ever being thirsty again. What does that mean for us? It means that Jesus offers himself to us and promises that only he will and can satiate our souls parch.
March 1 | Second Sunday in Lent: Into the Unknown
In Genesis 12, God calls Abram away from the comforts of home, family, and country. God often calls us to follow him without knowing what is next or where we are going.
February 22 | First Sunday in Lent: The One Who Overcame the Wilderness
Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the Wilderness in order to be tempted by Satan. He goes to Satan’s “home turf” in order to confront him. In so doing, Jesus atones for the sins of humanity by refusing to bend his knee to temptation.