Stuff That Matters In Life

We take a lot of things for granted here in the US.

Our speaker at last year’s church retreat says that what Jesus did on the cross should not become too familiar with us, such that we take him for granted.

As Easter approaches, I think it is an appropriate time for us to reflect on the significance of Easter.

A friend decided to abstain from Facebook to spend time in prayer. This idea of fasting from Facebook as written in UPI.com is said to be in observance of Lent.

As a Christian, I do not observe Lent. Traditionally Lent is a Catholic thing. It has the idea of paying penance for our sins. Fasting and other types of self-denial is suppose to earn you God’s favor.

As a Christian, I believe what Jesus did on the cross is complete and enough to save us. There is nothing we can do to earn God’s favor. “By grace we have been saved …” I think it is after the Reformation that those who became Protestants did away with Lent.

However, with that said, I do think that a type of fasting in order to focus on God is very appropriate. I wouldn’t call it Lent nor subscribe to the idea behind the word. Maybe there is another word we can use.

I am planning on a few days of fasting. It won’t be fasting from FB. I’m not on it that much. I can’t fast from food because I have low blood sugar and low blood pressure (the automatic blood pressure machines can’t even pick up my blood pressure. The nurse always has to resort to using the stetoscope.)

Fasting from the internet is a challenge for me. Instead of writing for my website, or looking for properties, or reading blogs on my reader, I will reserve some time for prayer and reflection of Easter.