Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
Everything has a purpose. Everything has an end for which it was made. The purpose of the rain is to water the earth and it does not return until it has achieved this end. If the rain fails in its purpose, it causes a chain reaction. Rain allows things to grow, such as wheat and corn. Without this we couldn’t produce things such as bread or, well, I’ll let Luke Bryan carry on the corn analogy. All in all, rain is a good thing, but only if it achieves its end for which it was sent.
Similarly, God sends His Word to us so that it might stir our hearts and cause a new life to sprout. Without God’s Word, our lives remain like a dormant seed. But God speaks to us so that the seed may die and bring new life within us. This season of Lent is all about dying to ourselves and God is (pardon the pun) dead serious about this. It is only when a seed dies that it may bring new life. It is only when we die to ourselves that we can bring forth new life. And this new life has the power to reach out to those around us.
In the most perfect way, God’s Word, Jesus, fulfilled His end when He submitted His will to the Father. “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you; remove this chalice from me; yet not what I will, but what you will.” Jesus, the Word of God, consistently gave up His will to the Father, leading to His death on the cross in the ultimate sacrifice of Himself. The Word came and did the Father’s will. The Word was completely used by the earth and completed its end. It was time He could return the Father.
God’s Word calls us to action. Once we have died to ourselves, the Word tells us to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” We are to make disciples with the new life within us. We are to be channels through which the Word of God can impregnate other seeds so that they too may die to themselves to partake in the abundant life of God.
We’ve been told our mission. It is one that we are called to live out constantly. It is the vision that guides our whole life and the principle behind how we manage our finances. it shapes our need to express true hospitality and impacts our elevator conversations. It changes how we view the stranger and shapes why we forgive our enemies. We are being sent forth, let us not return to the Father void, but achieve the end for which we’ve been sent.
- Zach Jarrell