Lenten Journey II

So far, in my forty days of personal preparation for the Easter Season, I have found that even in my "putting off," I have become focused on putting that thing off very well, and not very focused on Christ. I keep returning to His 40 days in the Wilderness. When was it, again, that it happened in His ministry? Right before the crucifixion? No, it was actually before His ministry began and directly after His baptism, when the dove descended on Him. Why did the Holy Spirit drive Him into the wilderness? I don't know. But there are a couple of parallels here to draw from the story of Noah, when another dove appeared, when another forty days of testing or flood waters arose.

I believe the flood represents the baptism or burial of sin, as thousands of rebellious people perished under the great waters. The ark saved the righteous inside. Was Jesus our ark in the desert of sin, taking our stains and burying them in the tumultuous waters of the wilderness? But even more intriguing is the dove. God sent a dove to Noah only after months of quieting the rebellion on earth. So the dove only appears when sin is eradicated*. Peace with God only comes when all my sin is buried. Was it the same dove that descended on Christ before he entered the wilderness and death to self? Announcing that Jesus would bury or wash all sin away and that once the sin is eradicated, there could be peace with God?

I believe these things are intentionally difficult and convoluted to piece together--Pearls of Wisdom that must be sought out. I don't have it figured out, but if Christ went into the wilderness to bury my sin, then these forty days of Lent should also be about me burying my sin. Because I must die with Christ--its not a free ride. The thing that I chose to "put off" is not a comfort that I can take or leave, but something very common, a commodity in fact, that can and often does become an idol in my life. Jesus had no idols and we are called to be like Him. So, I want to effectively, not nominally, put off these things that distract me from a blameless Christ and Holy God. Pray that I focus on Christ and not the thing I am "putting off."

"I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak to her heart." Hosea 2:14

[*inspired in part, from The Legend to the Treasure by Gwen Shamblin]