Elliott's Muses

 First Monday in Lent... In 1st Peter, he says, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed." (2:24) When Peter spoke to the Jewish Council in Acts 5, he said, "The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree." (30) The Bible opens in Genesis with human beings in a garden, where the tree becomes a focal point for their disobedience to God's word. The Bible ends in the book of Revelation where the picture of heaven reveals... "The angel showed me the river of the water of life, flowing from the throne of God and of the lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations" (22:1-2). In Lent, we remember our Christ-shaped heritage comes from our Savior, Jesus...

 Thursday in the first week of Lent.  Let's begin with this Gospel reading: Mark 11:12-25 12  On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13  And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14  And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. 15  And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16  And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17  And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18  And the chief priests and the scribes hear...

 Why Lent?  From the introduction and day 1 of my book, "A Lenten Sojourn"... Today begins the 40 days of Lent.  The word "Lent" comes from the word Lencten , which is an old Anglo-Saxon word for "Spring".  Lent begins a 40-day period that ends the Saturday before Easter (Sundays are not counted in Lent because they are considered to be days of celebrating the Resurrection, not the cross). Why 40 days?  Most likely it’s because the number 40 often appears in relation to things related to sin and temptation.  The rain fell on the earth for forty days and forty nights.  The children of Israel wandered for 40 years in the desert.  Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by Satan for 40 days.  During the 40 days of Lent, we have the opportunity to “think”, “remember”, and “reflect” on issues of sin, what Christ has done for us on the cross, and how we can live more clearly for Him.   Often Christians give up something ...