That led me to wonder why we give anything up for Lent. What is the purpose of fasting from something for the 40 days of Lent? My quick, easy answer is that it is to prepare our hearts to remember the death and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. So what kinds of things do people give up for Lent that fulfill this purpose?
I'll admit that I have been very judgmental about the things I hear from my friends or acquaintances and strangers are giving up for Lent. We have all heard of the people who choose something for an ulterior motive such as, giving up sugar in hopes that they will lose a few pounds over the next 40 days, or give up a bad habit because they hope to kick it for good.
Something about me is that I desperately want the things that I do to have purpose. So much so that if I can't justify an action or a decision with a greater purpose, I end up frozen and paralyzed to take any action at all. For this reason, I have not done a Lent fast for many years. I knew that, for me, none of the typical things that I heard of other people giving up for Lent would really serve the purpose that I believed in of preparing my heart, so I did nothing.
The last time I remember fasting from anything for Lent, I was seven or eight and I gave up chocolate. At the time, my family had a tradition of going to Old Country Buffet for Kids Eat Free night on Thursdays. There was a dessert bar and I remember my favorite dessert like I'm holding it in my hands right now. I would take small dessert bowl and place a brownie in the bottom and then carefully pour soft serve chocolate ice cream on top and top it off with chocolate sprinkles. I know that every Thursday night during Lent, I wished for my chocolate creation but settled for some other dessert. I also remember the second Thursday after Easter when I realized that, not only could I have my chocolate creation again, but I could have had it the previous week too had I not forgotten that Easter had come.
At that age, I was trying to do what my friends were doing. My friends at Wednesday night church had all been talking about what they were giving up for Lent so I joined them in fasting so that I could fit in. I had a very immature understanding of what it meant to fast for Lent. The problem was that as my understanding matured, I didn't really bring my actions along. Fasting for Lent was a big deal and if I couldn't do it right then I wasn't going to do it at all. Unfortunately, I began to mentally make fun of everyone else for not doing it right. The more I chuckled at others, the less I wanted to fast for Lent.
When I eventually became aware of people giving up Facebook for Lent, I thought that was the silliest thing of all. What? Not checking Facebook is going to bring you closer to God? Hahaha! I can be so mean sometimes. I thought Facebook was a silly little harmless thing that couldn't possibly get in the way of a relationship with God. I can be so wrong sometimes.
In the past months, I have been in more constant communication with God through the Holy Spirit. I am correcting some things in my life that have brought separation from God. I am bringing him burdens that I thought were too small for God yet they were crushing me. I have been experiencing healing and renewal. I have also been convicted about areas that need to change.
I check Facebook a lot. I read my newsfeed several times a day and more when I am lonely. Now that I stay home with my kids, I feel lonely almost constantly. So I look for new status updates almost constantly. I want to see something interesting that someone else is doing but rarely do I find anything that I read on Facebook to be terribly interesting. The more I check it the less I get out of it but the more I want to check it.
What if, I didn't check Facebook when I was feeling lonely? What if, instead, I cried out to God? Sought his comfort, peace, and direction in my life? I think a lot of things would change. I think it would be transforming for me and for my family. I think it would bring more joy and less emptiness. Sign me up for that!
So, I take back everything I ever said about giving up Facebook for Lent because I am giving up Facebook for Lent. Instead, I will allow my loneliness or boredom to be filled with the love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit and the joy that comes with the forgiveness of sin through Christ Jesus. Amen.
