Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'" Matthew 4:10
As presented on *The Lutheran Hour® by Dr. Oswald Hoffmann, February 24, 1985.
People often give up something for Lent—they feel they ought to give something up for Christ. Actually, Christ calls upon people to give themselves up for Him—to give up whatever keeps driving them toward death and self-destruction, whatever gets in the way of complete joy and fellowship in Christ. Christ calls you to give in to Him and get up and go for Him, not going back once Lent is over but going forward.
Lent is for champions. It is not just an exercise to see “if you can do it.” It is for people in every age to be renewed by that grace in Jesus Christ, compelling and powerful to meet every need and every challenge.
Lent is for life, including the worshipful spirit that is willing to work in the name of God who gave His Son Jesus Christ to bring a breath of fresh air to our stale old world.
Lent is for worshiping Jesus, taking His hand, not to help Him but to be helped by Him. He can take care of Himself, but He will most certainly take care of you.
Because of Him, we observe Lent. Lent is for life. Lent is real challenge for real change, and it is for real champions. Lent is for getting a good grip on Jesus Christ, for renewing faith in Jesus Christ, for developing a more willing obedience to Jesus Christ, for learning to love Jesus Christ with a whole heart, and for enjoying the peace that life can give in Jesus Christ.
Lord Jesus, help me to observe Lent in repentance and faith. Renew me and make me alive in You. Amen.
Taken from A Message of Hope: Proclaiming the Cross (selections from messages broadcast on *The Lutheran Hour, celebrating 75 years of proclaiming the promise).
Copyright © 2006 by Lutheran Hour Ministries
*The Lutheran Hour is the longest-running Christian radio broadcast in the world. It is a production of Lutheran Hour Ministries. For more information, visit www.lutheranhour.org.
Today's Bible Readings: Leviticus 17-18 Mark 9:1-29
To Download Devotion MP3 to your computer, right click here and select "Save Link As" or "Save Target As" or "Download Linked File As"