I was recently having a conversation with a friend, mentioning that I really wished pregnancy could just be 25 weeks, maybe 30 weeks tops. But, really 40! It just gets sooo long, not that I am complaining. She responded, you know there has to be something to it, a pregnancy being 40 weeks with all of the significance of 40 in the Bible.
It was 40 days that it rained while Noah was in the ark during the great flood. Moses lived 40 years in Egypt. The Israelites journeyed for 40 years to the Promised Land. Jonah preached 40 days to Nineveh. Elijah fasted for 40 days on Mount Horeb. Jesus fasted for 40 days in the desert.
So now here we are at the cusp of entering our own 40 day journey. The season of Lent, a time to prepare our hearts and sanctify our souls. A time to draw closer to Christ and closer to the Cross. A time of dying to ourselves, so to become fully alive in the Resurrection, both now as we celebrate it at Easter and also at our final calling.
As a mom there are plenty of opportunities to make a sacrifice, most times even before my alarm goes off. Before the dawn breaks we have been presented with moments to make holy, to rise above our weaknesses and turn to virtue. Much easier said than done when the comfort of a warm bed and a soft pillow beckon our eyes to stay closed instead of rising joyfully. Each moment of each day we are called to live holy. To make holy the present moment, the present circumstance, the present hour, the present day.
Chances are I will probably be up late tonight still deliberating over what I should do and give up for Lent. I always end up with a laundry list and find it difficult to focus in on just a few things. In the years past I have found it easy to get carried away with what I was going to commit to, setting unrealistic expectations for my current season of life only to end up discouraged when it didn’t all go perfectly planned. Lesson learned, as a mother to five coffee doesn’t make the list.
Each in our own state of life, each in our own journey we can choose Christ in both the small and big moments of the day. Learning as we walk to keep our eyes fixed on the Cross, because through it we are made holy.
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