The glimpse of snowdrops and the longer days are a welcome sign that Spring is coming.
For Christians, this current season of Lent is also a reminder that Easter is on the way.
And just as we might start to think about getting ready for Spring; wondering when to cut the grass, whether to book a bank holiday getaway, Christians use the season of Lent to get ready for Easter.
The good news of Easter is that each of us can be forgiven by God and friends with God through Jesus’ death on the cross.
Lent helps us to prepare in three ways…
Firstly, it’s a time of reflection: Christians choose to slow down, to perhaps adopt simpler habits and to focus on what’s most important in life, their relationship with God. We remember that, in Jesus, God himself came to live in our world.
Secondly, it’s a time of repentance: in Jesus we see the best life ever lived.
In response, Christians acknowledge how we haven’t lived as we should. We decide to turn away from our way of doing life and to choose again to live God’s way.
Thirdly, we get ready to receive: God’s love, acceptance and forgiveness isn’t earned, it’s accepted through faith in Jesus’ death on our behalf.
So in a nutshell, Lent isn’t about what we choose to give up but getting ready to receive what God offers us at Easter. And perhaps the hope and new life of Spring is a just whiff of the greater fresh start and new life offered in the Christian faith.
To know more, please join us on Sunday mornings as we meet at St Crispin’s School at 10.30am.
Frankie Knight from Christ Church Wokingham, writing on behalf of Churches Together in Wokingham
