Though it has its roots in the Catholic Church, it is not strictly a "Catholic" thing, as so many protestants might believe, nor is it the stuff that sticks to your clothes when they come out of the dryer, as so many of the sixth graders in my Sunday School class guessed. Lent, or some form of preparation for Easter Sunday, dates back to the second century. After the legalization of the Christian church in 313 A.D., the Council of Nicea wrote in 325 A.D. that Lent should be observed during the 40 days before Easter. The number "40" has great significance to Christians (The number of days Noah spent on the ark and the number of years the Israelites wandered in the dessert). Three characters from the Bible also went through a period of testing during 40 day fasts: Moses, Elijah, and Jesus before starting his ministry.
All of this to say we as Christians use these 40 days to prepare our hearts for the resurrection of God's son. During Jesus' stay in the dessert, the Bible says he was tempted by Satan three times. The church encourages its members to give up or add something to their everyday life for 40 days to, like Jesus was, be challenged. In doing so, Lent becomes a time of introspection in which we take a closer look at how we can be more like the man who came to save the world from sin. Similar to how the season of Advent prepares us for the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day, Lent prepares our hearts for Jesus' resurrection from the dead.
That brings me to the title of this post. I have decided to give up listening to the radio in my truck for Lent. For those of you who know me, you know I like to listen to sports talk radio just a little bit. When I am not filling my ears with arguments and commentary, the country music is usually turned up. Without the soundwaves flowing, I have a couple of quiet minutes in every day to myself to be in silence with God (minus the MagnaFlows rumbling under the truck). So if you see me on the roads and it appears that I may be talking to myself, more than likely I am trying to pray more like my mother or singing hymns--the only songs I know all the words to thanks to my old man, who is a music minister. Side note: I have great examples in my life.
Since the ban of AM-FM transmission in my truck, I have been belting out my own acapella version of Fernando Ortega's Give Me Jesus. The lyrics are my theme through the Lenten season.
Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus,
You can have all this world,
But give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus,
You can have all this world,
But give me Jesus.
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