MY LENTEN FAST
Ash Wednesday, Feb 17 to Easter Sunday, April 4
Isaiah 58:6-8 (cf: Matthew 25:31-46)
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen…”
LENT is the 40-day period between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday (not counting Sundays)
Click here for our 2021 Lent Devotional guide or click here for an online 40 Day Lent Plan.
Lent offers us all a very special opportunity to grow in our relationship with God and to deepen our commitment to a way of life, rooted in our faith.
In our busy world, Lent provides us with an opportunity to deflect from our habits, to pray more deeply, experience sorrow for what we’ve done and failed to do, and be generous to those in need. Initially, the word “Lent” simply meant spring but became associated with the fast in the late Middle Ages as Catholic sermons were spoken in vernacular instead of Latin. The 40-day period is symbolic of the 40 days spent by Moses and Elias in the wilderness; the Jews wandered 40 years travelling to the Promised Land. Jonah in his prophecy of judgment gave the city of Nineveh 40 days’ grace in which to repent. Jesus retreated into the wilderness and fasted for 40 days of temptation to prepare for his ministry.
So, by observing Lent, many Christians join Jesus on His retreat. When we think of fasting, we normally think of food, but we can fast other things that distract or take us away from our Saviour on a regular basis, including unwanted habits.