Why Lent?

John the Baptist said he was "a voice crying in the wilderness--prepare ye the way of the Lord, for He comes to rule the earth--and his winnowing sword is in His hand" (paraphrased and including other scriptures).

The prophet Micah gave us a picture of the "wilderness" or spiritual darkness of the earth, the place that needs to be cleansed of evil-doing and ignorance of the ways of God:

All men lie in wait to shed blood; each hunts his brother with a net.

Both hands are skilled in doing evil...the powerful dictate what they desire...

The best of them is like a brier; the most upright worse than a thorn hedge...

Do not trust a neighbor; put no confidence in a friend...

For a son dishonors his father,

a daughter rises up against her mother,

a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law---

a man's enemies are the members of his own household...

Lent is a time for the nation at large to return to "the fear of the Lord, the beginning of wisdom," to see how far we have strayed from the rule of God in our lives.  Jesus wept over Jerusalem because they failed to recognize "the day of their visitation."  His reference was to the prophet Micah's words "The day of your watchmen has come, the day God visits you" (7:4).

If we knew God was coming to visit, we would "clean up" our homes---and it wouldn't help to shove everything under the bed, because He would know it.  We need to remove injustice and malice from our lives; we don't need to sacrifice our children on the altar.  Again, Micah:

With what shall I come before the Lord

and bow down before the exalted God?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

with calves a year old?

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

with ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgressions,

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He has shown you, O man, what is good.

And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy

And to walk humbly with your God (6:6-8).

If we walk with God on a daily basis, as the disciples traversed the dusty roads of Jerusalem with Jesus for three years, there will be no room in our homes for evil.  He will teach us as we go, and we will ultimately despise injustice as He does, putting it far from us.  What a good place to begin in Lent---walking with God!