Lenten Reflection - Day 2

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

John 10:10

Additional Reading: John 6:32-40; John 15

I used to have a roommate who kept a few plants in our house. One of them was a geranium. Most people hibernate their geraniums for the winter, but in our house there was no cool basement room, so we kept it in her room with less vigorous watering than the rest of the year.

About this time of year, that geranium would come back to life. It would notice something before my roommate and I would: the days were getting longer and the sun was getting stronger. With the longer days, the geranium would begin to stir. Its winter sleep was over. It wanted to grow. And so, we would prune off some of the dead and extra growth. Then, we would feed it a bit to get it going, and give it more water. The season of growth and flowering was upon it.

We, too, have entered this season of lengthening days. Did you know that the word, "Lent," is derived from the same word as "lengthen." It is our season for growing. We, too, must re-examine our lives and prune out what is extra and what is dead. We, too, must concentrate on growth and food, spiritual food such as prayer and reading scripture. We, too, long to bloom and flower and produce good fruits such as love and serving others.

And so in this season of lengthening days, let us enter more fully into the life of grace. Let us, where it's called for, repent and ask God's Spirit to turn us around and prune off the excess. Let us not only give things up but also do some "extras" for others. Find little, creative ways of serving the people you see regularly. Let us simplify our use of media such as television and computers, to eliminate distractions. Let us feed ourselves with spiritual food: extra time in prayer each day, or daily Bible reading.

I'm looking forward to this. Because for me, personally, I feel like I'm coming out of a pretty long season of "hibernation." I've not been too alert to the things needed to follow Jesus. I've been dormant. So, bring it on! Let this spiritual sleeper awake!