Faster and slower

Usually I forget about giving something up for Lent until Ash Wednesday has passed and anything I would have given up, I have already done or eaten.  This year someone brought it up before the beginning of Lent and I had time to consider my options.  Should I give up something for Lent this year?  Why would I want to do such a thing? 

               I could give up something for Lent so I could have something to brag about.  I could gather with my friends and we could try to impress one another with our sacrifices.  “I gave up ice cream.”  “Well I gave up chocolate.”  “But I gave up ice cream AND chocolate.”  “I’ll take your ice cream and your chocolate!  I gave up dieting!” 

                I could give up something for Lent as a kind of trial repentance.  We could join each other for coffee and admire our glittering crowns of piety.  If, after Easter, we just could not live without our sin, we could go back to it.  After all, we tried.  “I have given up speeding for Lent.  I will willingly get stuck behind the snowplow so I will not be tempted beyond what I can bear.”  “I’m giving up gossip.  Just so you all are aware I will not be talking about your weight, your marital woes or your horrible parenting.  You are so welcome.”  “I’m giving up porn.”  Yikes. 

I could give up something for Lent so I have something to complain about.  My friends and I could thumb text after text detailing our great misery.  “I don’t know how I will get through the day without the television.  Watching movies on my phone just isn’t the same!”  “I gave up wearing my seat belt and I am consumed by fear every time I leave the house.  If that’s not suffering I don’t know what is!”  “I gave up showers and I am so lonely; no one wants to be near me.”

                I could give up something for Lent and, in a small way, share in the suffering of Jesus Christ.  He gave up everything to come to this earth, suffer and die.  He gave up heaven for homelessness; glory for humility; a perfect body for pain.  He gave up life so I could have life abundantly.  (John 10:10)  Should I choose to fast I will not brag, for Jesus was a humble man.  I will not attempt a trial repentance unless I am looking for trial forgiveness.  I will not complain because Jesus did not complain.  The Bible says Jesus went to the cross, knowing full well what it would cost Him, in anticipation of the JOY set before Him; eternal life with His beloved people and glorification in the Kingdom of God.  (Hebrews 12:2)