Today is Ash Wednesday. It marks the beginning of Lent, the forty-day period (excluding Sundays) leading up to Easter. 

The word itself, Lent, was chosen for convenience. It traces to an old English word for “springtime,” lencten. More literally, it means “lengthen,” which is a reference to the lengthening of days after a long, dark winter. It was the perfect title since the seasonal change corresponds to the lead-up to Easter.

Some Christians observe Lent, others don’t. (For a podcast episode and blog explaining more, click on the link below.)

For today’s devotional, I’d like to explain the significance of the forty-day time period. It provides an opportunity related to our faith. 

The forty-day timeline recalls other forty-day periods in the Bible. It rained forty days and forty nights when Noah was in the ark. Moses was on the mountain of God for forty days. It recalls Jesus’ experience too: “And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan” (Mark 1:13).

Although the Bible never provides an explicit answer about the meaning of “forty,” it seems that forty is a period of preparation for a new time and task under God. That was certainly true for all the examples I just cited.

With this in mind, the period leading up to Easter can serve a similar purpose. It can be a time of spiritual preparation and strengthening. This is partly why some people spend more time in prayer or fasting. Others go without social media or a bad habit. “I’m giving up such-and-such for Lent.” 

Others, instead of giving something up, take on a new practice to help them draw closer to God—perhaps a prayer habit, memorizing some psalms, or volunteering for a special project.

Do we have to do these things? No. But if we’ve swerved off course and need a re-do, or if we’d like to go deeper with our faith, Lent can be a helpful time to intensify our relationship with—or commitment to—the Lord.

Think about your own faith or discipleship. What is lacking? What needs strengthening? What is going well? What needs to go? What needs to stay?

Whatever you do (or don’t do), let’s heed the instruction of Hebrews 12:1-2: “let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…”

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Notes:

-“What should Protestants think about Lent?” Click here, or find it on ‘The Pulse Podcast with Matthew Ruttan’ (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.)

-Bible quotes are from the ESV.