Lent Day 35
Yesterday marked the first day of Holy week where we think about, dwell upon, and meditate on the last few days before Jesus goes to the cross. We’ve spent 34 days thinking about what took Jesus to get here. We’ve talked about our sin, our confession, the brokenness in our world, the future redemption we await, and the faithfulness of God through all of it.
And so as we start this week, let’s think about the purpose that Jesus lived his last week with. Every moment was magnified. Every conversation was focused. In every relationship, he leaned into a little bit more because he knew that in the next few days, the world would be turned upside down.
Have you ever lived with that kind of purpose? Have you ever been so in tune with the Holy Spirit and your place in the world that you saw every moment from the significant to the mundane as a purposeful moment given to you for your sanctification?
It reminds me of Brother Lawrence. He’s a 17th-century French Carmelite monk. He decided that he would devote his life to intimacy with Christ out of love and reverence for him. And so he viewed every situation as if he would have the presence of God with him. In the book Practicing the Presence of God, he writes, “I cannot imagine how religious persons can live satisfied without the practice of the presence of GOD. For my part I keep myself retired with Him in the depth of centre of my soul as much as I can; and while I am so with Him I fear nothing; but the least turning from Him is insupportable.”
What if today, you remind yourself often that every work you do, from the drive to work to the meeting with your boss, picking up kids from school, cooking dinner, and whatever you do today, you did it acknowledging the presence of God with you and out of a heart of love and affection for the God who wants to be near.