{image via OpenBible.org…with the biggest text indicating the most popular lenten fasts.}
I’m not Catholic and I didn’t grow up Catholic. It wasn’t until I was in high school that I realized what Mardi Gras actually celebrated: One last day of fun and frolic before lent begins.
I always liked celebrating lent. I was shocked when I realized all churches didn’t have an Ash Wednesday service. I remember talking to Derek one year, early in our relationship about lent. I asked him if he was planning to give anything up. “No. We don’t really do that.”
Again. Shocked.
So here I am. A little older, maybe wiser. At least less naive about lenten practices. But I still like lent. I’m not saying I always make some elaborate “Lenten Promise,” or give up meat on Fridays…and in no way am I saying that fasting something over lent makes you in any way superior. I just like having a season that causes us to reflect on Christ’s fast/temptation. I like a season that disciplines some of our own “worldly” tendencies and quiets our hearts in preparation to celebrate the gift of salvation. I’m old school…so sue me.
I was about an inch away from not giving anything up this year. Then Tuesday night, literally at the eleventh hour, I decided to begin a fast from something that has been eroding my time, productivity, and spirituality: TV during the day.
My third grad teacher, Mrs. Carlson, could tell you that I’m the type of person who holds her pencils too tight. She was always on me, telling me to loosen my grip or else I’d get cramped hands. Pretty much, that’s an analogy for me in many areas of my life. I’m a tight holder. To lots of things. God, however, wants us to be open handed on the earth. He tells us to be “in the world, not of the world.” He asks us to have a loose grip on the world so we can have a tight grip on Him.
Yeah. I struggle with that. I have to make loads of tiny, conscience decisions to be open handed with the gifts He’s given me, and to let go of worldly things that distract me from Him.
And one of the biggest distractions is TV during the day.
I love TV. Love it. So much, I let NetFlix play nearly constantly through the day. When a series ends, I find a new one. I don’t necessarily watch closely. But I like the noise. And I’d rather hear a story line than music in the background. In my heart of hearts I’ve wanted to give up turning the tube on during my “working” hours. Then I’d make some kind of loop hole excuse as to why I didn’t really need to.
I’ll only have it on during my morning coffee.
Only if I’m doing the “mindless” parts of projects.
Only during lunch.
Soon, my web of excuses was more porous than a sheet of cheese cloth.
I thought about lent. A perfect time to make a fasting commitment and stick to it. Then I would think how much I liked TV and how if I didn’t give anything up, I wouldn’t be out anything…because no one expects me to give something up anyway. Right? But a realization sunk in. Isn’t anything we place a higher priority than our relationship with the Lord an idol?
Yep.
It makes me feel a little sick to my stomach that I’d avoid giving something as trivial as TV up in order to spend that time in communion with Christ. Really. I’d rather be watching reruns of The Office than cultivating a deeper relationship with the Creator of the whole universe? Scary.
TV isn’t evil in itself. There is something wrong when it {or anything} becomes more important/enjoyable/pertinent to our day than focusing on Christ. There is something wrong when a worldly commodity places our eyes for the Kingdom and the glory of God in a shadow.
Yikes. TV came up on me quietly, stealthily. Slowly it tempted me away from coffee and Bible…to coffee and NetFlix. It took me away from quiet projects prayerfully completed…to projects finished to a soundtrack of reruns. Gross.
So it’s lent and I gave it up. My heart needs to be quieted. My heart needed to face its convictions. Even though my hands hurt as I loosen their grip on my TV addiction, {and I sound super lame talking about my “first world” problems of too much television…} I consciously want to make the choice to put God back in His rightful place: As king over everything in my world.
Even if you aren’t fasting from something this season, I hope you’ll consciously take the time and effort to examine your relationship with Christ. Take inventory of your heart, clear out the gunk blocking a stellar, intimate, crazy-love relationship with God. You’ll be refreshed and totally ready to celebrate another Easter with the King.
Amy
