Lent

I know Lent is already a few weeks in but I thought I would share this post I put out to my church. I am hoping it will also serve as a visual reminder for me as to why I am doing this, now that I find myself counting the days until Lent is over.
"Everything is permissible for me but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me - but I will not be mastered by anything" (I Corinthians 6:12). I have come over the last maybe three years to value the season of Lent to prepare for the upcoming Easter season, to refocus my commitments to the Lord and to challenge myself spiritually, mentally and physically in my relationship with Christ (much of my thoughts have been challenged and come from the blog I read by Mark Batterson, www.evotional.com.)
I think the key with Lent is to not just give up something for the sake of doing it or to simply improve ourselves but to also add something to help us in our spiritual walk. My question for lent is not just what am I giving up but what am I adding? In Lent, and really year round, we should want to discipline our lives to help us better understand sacrifice and cause us to look toward Christ. As we come to a point during our day when we would normally partake of that thing we are giving up, we are too think about Christ and pray to the Father. So, essentially, in giving something up we should also add, if nothing else, a prayer to fill the spot of that thing we are taking away.
I think one of the core difficulties Lent or sacrifice in general with the church in America, in particular, is that we dont like going without. We have such a strong sense of entitlement, though we may not necessarily say it, but we live sometimes in a way that calls sacrifice foolish. We believe in Jesus Christ who sacrificed everything for us yet we live with such excesses today. Why would we sacrifice or go without something that might cause us some discomfort? It is hard to give up something when everything we want is right at our fingertips. It is hard for instance to give up tv when we have one in every room. I think everyone of us should consider giving up something, sacrificing ourselves in some way so we can relate better and grow closer to our Father in heaven. It is a challenge worth considering even in small areas of our lives.
To make sure I am trying to practice what I preach I thought I would share what I am going to do and how it came about. I really wanted to do something difficult this year but wasnt sure what. A couple of Sundays before Lent began, I was challenged by two of our youth who were giving up meat. This would be a great undertaking for me since I dont consider it a meal or snack unless there is some kind of meat involved. Nevertheless, I was inspired by the idea and decided to join them. Since then their idea has led my brother in law to join us and maybe others? So, for lent this year I am giving up meat (McDonalds will not know what to do without me, if you consider that real meat). I am also going to try and get up 30 minutes earlier each morning to add to my devotional routine. I have noticed my personal Bible time has been rushed lately and I want to try and spend more quality time with the word and the Father.
The idea isnt to get fanatical about the details but to just do something. Hope you consider this challenge (even if you start late)--let me know if you do. Maybe we can encourage one another.