A Season for Everything

Spring is on the move. I am seeing the first signs of new life all around. The mini iris' and narcissus have joined the heather in colorful blooms. And the house finches are eying the potted Alberta Spruces by our living room windows. Just about every year a young couple starts a family in one of the tree's.

Coming into Spring - Sheri Dinardi

Yes, there is new life springing up everywhere and the anticipation of colorful, beautiful times in the sun is making these dreary rainy days a little more tolerable. There is a rhythm in nature of times and of seasons. There is a rhythm in our life with God. In the book of Exodus, God lays out three Feasts to be kept to God by the Israelites. In total God gave Israel seven feasts to be celebrated through out the year. The term "keep a feast" means to be festive, dance, assemble for rejoicing and celebration. The Old Testament abounds in feasts and celebrations, ordained by God and bringing joy to the people. Solomon wisely says in Ecclesiastes 3:

"To everything there is a season,  

A time for every purpose under heaven: 

A time to be born, And a time to die;..."  

and so it goes through a litany of times in our lives.

Just as the Israelites celebrated yearly seasonal Feasts, so the traditional church has celebrated a church year as well. I am an Evangelical Christian from the US and like most Evangelicals, I was not brought up with the church year. (Though I began to learn about it as I researched how to celebrate Advent with my children when they were small. I wanted to bring more meaning into our Christmas celebration. Now my girls are grown and have families of their own. I began Journey with Jesus during Advent of 2009 to help people to celebrate Advent with daily readings.  My other two related blogs are similar. I started Advent for Kids in 2010 to help my kids and grand kids to celebrate Advent. It is full of resources to help families have a more meaningful Christmas Season. Follow Jesus for Kids was started early 2011 to help kids through the year to Journey with Jesus. It somewhat follows this blog, but simplified and not as frequent of posts. Little did I know these blogs would go far and wide over the earth!)

According to the church calendar Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and marks the first day of Lent. The quote below is a simple description of Lent found in the introduction of a pamphlet of Lent Devotions. You can find more information by clicking the read more below.

"What is Lent? For some Christians, Lent has always been a part of their spiritual life and practice, but for others it is unfamiliar. Lent is the season when Christians have historically prepared their hearts for Easter with reflection, repentance, and prayer. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and proceeds for forty days, culminating in Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Since Sundays are weekly celebrations of the resurrection of Jesus, the six Sundays in Lent are not counted as part of the forty-day season. Many Christians choose to fast throughout the season of Lent, but the focus is not so much on depriving themselves of something as it is on devoting themselves to God and His purposes in the world.

Lent is an important season of the church year. The church year is an excellent way to help us focus our attention on God by the way we organize our time."  Read More

If you are new to this as I am, the read more  above will help you to find some resources.

The upcoming posts on Journey with Jesus will go well with the season of Lent. We will continue with the next two Beatitudes... Blessed are those who mourn and Blessed are the meek. They will lead into Passion Week, Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. :)