leading to easter

It was on Ash Wednesday that I was having a conversation with my housemate on what he was giving up for lent. He refused to tell me, so being the annoying I-want-to-know-everything, I said that if he told me, I could check up on him once in a while, to make sure he was following lent accordingly. He went on to tell me that lent is not about just giving up things, or making sacrifices, it means more than just disciplining oneself in 40 days. He said that in giving up something that we enjoy, it should compel us to turn to our Lord and focus our thoughts on Him. After having heard what he had to say, I think it is clear why I couldn't bother to probe further on what he was to give up for lent.

I am reminded of a previous post that I made on listening to God's heart, which basically shares of the same truth. The point is that many times we forget that it isn't what we try not to do that pleases God, but rather it is when we realize we need to turn to Him that we find ourselves blessed with God's approval. The difference between the the two isn't always clear to us, because both seem to achieve the same goal of pleasing God until we realise that one is what we think God wants, and the other is what God really want from His children.

Incidentally, I came across another hymn that got me thinking that there are so many times we talk about what we can do for God and what we have done for God without realizing we may be looking at our lives from a wrong perspective. Maybe it is not so much as to what we can do or have done for God, but rather what have we done to pay back all that we owe to God; Maybe we are not the the one giving ourselves to God, but rather repaying the One who gave himself for us...

When this passing world is done;
When has sunk yon glaring sun;
When I stand with Christ on high
Looking o'er life's history:
Then, Lord shall I fully know,
Not till then, how much I owe.

When I stand before the throne
Dressed in beauty not my own;
When I see Thee as Thou art,
Love Thee with unsinning heart:
Then, Lord shall I fully know,
Not till then, how much I owe.

When the praise of heaven I hear
Loud as thunders to the ear,
Loud as many waters' noise,
Sweet as harp's melodious voice:
Then, Lord shall I fully know,
Not till then, how much I owe.

Chosen not for good in me;
Wakened up from wrath to flee;
Hidden in the Saviour's side;
By the Spirit sanctifies:
Teach me, Lord, on earth to show
By my love, how much I owe.

(Hymn 356 in the Believer's hymn book)