Bible Study

“For Lent, rather than giving something up, I’m taking something on. Here is what and why…”

Although change is ever-present, during Lent it gets put a bit more in the spotlight. One original description of Lent is “a Christian season of spiritual preparation before Easter, focusing on Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and the miracle of His Resurrection.” Along the same lines, Christians give up something as a form of penitence or repentance. So, in simple terms, making a sacrifice to request forgiveness for our sins.

Makes sense, but I have always struggled a bit with the logic. Not asking for forgiveness, as I need to do that daily, but how giving up chocolate exactly helps me ask.

A few years ago, I read about adding something versus giving something up, to take extra time for reflection and to draw closer to God. That felt much more like getting prepared for our Savior than feeling guilty over chocolate. So, since then, I have taken that route.

This year, before Lent started, my husband and I came upon the series “The Chosen”, about Jesus and his ministry with the disciples. If you haven’t watched it, I highly suggest you do, as it really brings the Gospel into a very relatable and relational focus. Since Jesus and the disciples were Jewish, they spend much of their interaction discussing the Torah and Jewish law, and how Jesus’ teachings differed yet aligned with them. Honestly, I have never been a real fan of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) as I didn’t really get the lineage and rules and really don’t have much overall recall of the entire Old Testament, to be truthful. (Ever so thankful, however, for all SUMC’s Bible studies, as they have been my real education over the past few years!). However, after watching this show, I was suddenly more aware that Jesus and the disciples only had the Old Testament; and if I wanted to get closer to Jesus, I needed to understand where he was coming from when he set out on his change of the world. So I decided to read the Bible for Lent!

Okay, I probably won’t get through it all by Easter, but I have finished Genesis! I curl up in bed at night and read a few chapters. To help me along, I am following the Bible App (You Version), and they have a “365 days for reading the Bible” plan — well, they have many plans actually; but I am following the one with the Bible Project because it really helps simplify and summarize the various books of the Bible with discussions and wonderful drawings. (I finally figured out how the tribes got to Egypt and why book 2 is Exodus from there –- I know, pretty sad at my age to just figure that out.)

Regardless of my slow Biblical progress, I already feel much closer to Jesus. I think this Lent will be different, and I am hoping with all my heart that it is, as I can think of nothing better than understanding Jesus, so I can “walk close to thee”.

-Jen Rockwell