This year my
husband and I celebrated our 26th year of marriage. I love him dearly- even when he drives me
crazy ;) He’s the right man for me. We accept each other’s differences and are
committed to working through the difficulties of life together. I heard something that got me thinking about
Lent the other day. As a good Catholic I
tried to give up something during my early teen years such as chocolate, tv and
so on. Now, stay with me as I go into a
weird place with this post- it will be resolved.
This year
coming, for Lent which I haven’t ‘celebrated’ for years, I think I am going to
give up my husband. It’s only 40
days. Perhaps I’ll learn to appreciate
him better. So for that time I won’t live
with him, think about him, talk to him, look at him, spend time with him or do
anything with or for him. Also, during
that time I am going to think about other men, talk to other men, look at other
men, spend time with other men and do anything with or for other men. Altogether, I think it will be an
enlightening experience and perhaps I will open my mind to understand better
who Albert is. So I have a few questions
for you to answer before you continue reading this post.
-Do you think this is a good or bad idea and why? For
this answer think about this on the basis
of the marriage
and not what God would think about it.
-Do you think Albert will mind?
-Would Albert consider it good for me to experience this?
-Is this a good way to improve Albert’s and my
relationship?
-Is this unfaithfulness or adultery against Albert or just
an
experience?
-Would God approve of this?
-Is there a chance this could ruin our marriage and my
heart could be lost to Albert?
Now that
you’ve answered these questions (if you haven’t go back and do so) I want you
to substitute Albert in my scenario for God because apparently some
‘Christians’ think it’s cool to give up God for Lent*. When I heard this my first thought was “Huh,
I’d no more give up air to breathe than I would God”. (Then while giving up God they learn about
other belief systems. This is how it was
explained to us.) My second thought was,
“Would a genuine Christian ever do this?” and I had to conclude “No” based on
many factors.
Now answer
the above questions again putting God’s name in for Albert’s. Did you answer anything differently? Probably not because most of us wouldn’t
think it was loving to set aside our spouse for any amount of time especially in
search of others. I certainly wouldn’t
want Albert to put me aside for this purpose.
If we wouldn’t do this to a spouse, why would we ever do it to God, our
Creator and sustainer of life? So,
please don’t ‘give up God’ for Lent or any other reason. Here are my first two reasons- the rest will
come tomorrow.
Love doesn’t leave.
You shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your
strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. Lk. 10:27 (also Dt. 6:5)
Love endures* all things 1Cr. 13:7 *remains, abides, not recede or flee
(paraphrased)
Love never fails* 1Cr. 13:8 *falls out of or away from
If God never
leaves us and we are to behave as He behaves then we should never leave.
(God said) …"Not at all will I leave you, not at all
will I forsake you, never!" Hb. 13:5
He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk
even as He walked. 1Jh. 2:6
He is our Father,
we are His children. Children need to stay
with their parent/s.
But as many as received Him, He gave to them authority to become
the children of God… Jh. 1:12
But now, O Jehovah, You are
our Father… Is. 64:8
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Gl. 3:26
*Lent is (supposed to be) a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by
observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline.
The purpose is to set aside time for reflection on Jesus Christ - his suffering
and his sacrifice, his life, death, burial and resurrection.