Dear friends,

We are now well into the season of Lent…. how’s it going?  If you gave something up have you managed to still resist temptation?  What about if you took something up: how are the motivation levels currently?

Last month, I suggested that we see Lent as an invitation to slow down, to pause, to listen and to let God shape us more into the likeness of Christ. Lent is a good time to reflect on the health or otherwise of our faith. We recall the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness, and we are invited to consider our own response to temptation in turn.

Lent reminds us of Jesus’ steadfast commitment to the way of the cross and asks us if we are willing to resist the temptations of this world and to bear the cost of discipleship.

What sustained Jesus during those forty days and forty nights of testing?  It was prayer and devotion.

We live such busy lives, and sometimes it feels like we are running on ‘auto-pilot’ and so we forget that we have given up chocolate, alcohol or whatever. Or, we climb into bed at the end of yet another busy and full day and only then recall,  ‘Oh! I haven’t done that thing I was supposed to be doing during Lent… Oh well it’s too late now!!’

It’s just as well that we have a loving God that sees us in our weakness and in our struggling and wrestling with the demands and temptations of life today. Still God urges us, just like Jesus did, to make time and space for prayer and devotion in our own lives.

At the end of the month, we will celebrate Palm Sunday and journey on into Holy Week. There are services every day during Holy Week, an opportunity for us to hit the pause button, take time out, and make time for prayer and devotion. Do come and join us any or every day! You will be most welcome..

God Bless
Keith

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