A Season of Grace
Lent is a season of penance. Now, that sounds terribly negative to our modern thinking, but it does not mean that God’s judgment is rising up out of spite or wrath. Rather, it means that this is a season of grace, where we are invited to put first things first and return to God. In Hebrew the word for repentance is shuv, and it means a turning back, a return to God. Lent should be a turning point where we start to prioritize the spiritual over the worldly.
A Change of Thinking
We can get overly focused on pursuing the comforts and entertainment of the world by seeking security in investments, retirement funds, government, and just about anything other than God. But in Matthew 6 in His sermon on the mount, Jesus warns that our treasure is not threatened with loss. The Greek word for conversion is metanoia, which means a change of thinking. Here we see that conversion is not just accepting a proposition—that God died for my sins—as true as that is, but metanoia restructures our whole mindset. All our worldly values are shaken up and turned upside down by true conversion.
Lent is a season of penance. Now, that sounds terribly negative to our modern thinking, but it does not mean that God’s judgment is rising up out of spite or wrath. Rather, it means that this is a season of grace, where we are invited to put first things first and return to God. In Hebrew the word for repentance is shuv, and it means a turning back, a return to God. Lent should be a turning point where we start to prioritize the spiritual over the worldly.
A Change of Thinking
We can get overly focused on pursuing the comforts and entertainment of the world by seeking security in investments, retirement funds, government, and just about anything other than God. But in Matthew 6 in His sermon on the mount, Jesus warns that our treasure is not threatened with loss. The Greek word for conversion is metanoia, which means a change of thinking. Here we see that conversion is not just accepting a proposition—that God died for my sins—as true as that is, but metanoia restructures our whole mindset. All our worldly values are shaken up and turned upside down by true conversion.
Please consider helping us in our mission to evangelize—to bring true conversion—throughout the world.
Shalom,
Tim Gray
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