Giving Up

“What are you giving up?” I heard that phrase every year as a child growing up in New England, in anticipation of Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent. On the Christian church calendar, Lent is the observance of the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness fasting, in preparation for his earthly ministry. During this time, Christians choose to give up or fast something to identify with Jesus’ humility and suffering. As a child, I may not have understood all the nuances of Lent, but the practice has remained with me all these years.

Although a Christian can fast at any time, Lent is the seasonal occasion when we as the Body of Christ fast together to prepare for the holiest day on the Christian calendar. Fasting is the act of refraining from a particular food or activity to feast on the Lord. There are many forms fasting can take; the Daniel fast (no meat), the dessert fast (no sweets), or the TV fast (no trash). Most fasts are deliberate and intentional but some are not.

Although, we enjoy trying different foods and recipes in the countries where we serve, sometimes you just crave certain American foods that simply may not be available. When we lived in Jamaica we could not find brown sugar. Jamaica has raw sugar (which they call brown sugar) but they do not have the kind you need to make chocolate chip cookies. We had been in Jamaica for over a year before I was able to make apple crisp and I had forgotten how good that simple dessert was until I was able to finally take that first bite. Fasting helped me to appreciate the gift of brown sugar.

Lest you think giving up something for Lent is like making a New Year’s resolution; it is not. Most resolutions take the form of giving up something for good for the purpose of self-improvement but fasting is giving up something for a time for soul-improvement. Through this period of self-denial, we learn to identify with the Lord and appreciate his provision.

So, what are you giving up for Lent? Whatever it may be, or whatever form your fast may take allow me to pose a challenge: as you are giving up for God, pray for souls around the world to give in to him.