Jeremiah 4:9-10, 19-28
Psalms 70, 71, 74
Romans 2:12-24
John 5:19-29
John 5: 19-29
I
spend my work days working with children, teens and their parents. When I am working with the parents I
repeatedly emphasize that as parents we are seed planters. That means we teach lessons daily to our
children knowing that one day the lesson will take. To illustrate this idea I usually ask them to
think about planting a flower or herb or vegetable from seed. You place the seed in the ground and then you
give it what it needs; sunshine, water, and TIME. We entrust the seed to the earth, the good
earth, and we plant it where it will get the necessary amount of sun and
moisture. Then we let it go – that is we give it time. We do not dig it up everyday to see if it is
spouting yet. We let the elements work
together as it is intended. If we have
done our preparation and we wait, then the crop will eventually come when it is
ready.
Easter
has already come – about 2000 years ago. We celebrate the wonder of the first Easter
every year. It is a harvest festival. God spent thousands of years preparing the
earth for the seed that would give all the people of the world eternal
nourishment. That preparation time for
us is Lent. In this time we are called
to prepare and wait 40 days – the Jews were asked to wait thousands of years. Who could blame them if from time to time they
lost sight of the promise. Let us not
lose sight of the promise for which we are preparing. Nourish yourself with the essential elements
(scripture readings, prayer, acts of service) so that you sprout, and grow
during Lent. In this way you will be
ready when on Easter we celebrate God’s victory over death through the life and
resurrection of Jesus.
God prepare me during this
Lenten season to open my heart to your love and your will, that I may grow in
my faith and act out in good ways throughout your creation. Amen.
Bob Felice