Lent: Give Up Your Life Of Sin!

The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him.

Genesis 12:1-4a (NIV1984)

If you haven't yet heard, or the over-the-top celebrations of Mardi Gras didn't tip you off, we are now in the season of Lent! Lent, the season when we are encouraged to give up something in order to turn our focus towards God and the ultimate sacrifice that he made by sending his son Jesus Christ into the world as a human being in order to die for the forgiveness of our sins and for the hope of having eternal life with him.

In this passage, Abram (a.k.a. Abraham) is called to sacrifice everything in his life that made him who he was, gave him identity, and gave him the "best" shot at having a great life in order to follow God to the unknown land. God does promise Abram seven great promises that caused Abram to respond with amazing faith. We see that Abram simply "left, as the Lord had told him!"

This Lenten season, what have you given up in order to focus your life more on Christ? You are probably not being called by God to give up the same things that Abram was called to give up, but I want to encourage you to first give up your life of sin. Jesus told the woman who was caught in adultery that he did not condemn her, but that she should give up her life of sin. We too can follow Jesus' command to "Go and sin no more" by turning away and giving up our lives of sin.

Whether or not you gave up something, like your favorite food or activity, we are all called to give up our life of sin in order to live into the promises that God has for our lives in Jesus Christ. Trust in God's promises and obey his command to go and sin no more!

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