Sacrificing...

Yes, we ate pancakes (waffles, actually) on Shrove Tuesday.
No, I didn't wear the ashes of remembrance. But I did see a boy at school with the black print of coal on his forehead.

And I prayed and prayed about what I was going to do for Lent (if I am doing it, that is) and I decided that yes, I might be doing it...or not.
Either way, you'll never know.
And it won't matter because I'm working out my salvation through fear and trembling just as you are working yours.
And though we're all working in different ways, most of us are working toward that same goal of holiness.

I hope you enjoy reading these two posts as much as I did:

• A Sojourner Rests: Forty days and forty nights
• Russell Moore: On Mardi Gras

Last of all, I have a question for you:
Paul says in Romans 9:3, “For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”

(Since Lent is about giving something up) Would you give your salvation up so that someone else could be saved?

I thought about this last night, telling God I was so sorry—sorry that not everyone is or will be saved…sorry that I am so selfish and wouldn’t be willing to do so.

Can you even imagine what life would be life without God? I can’t—I can’t remember a time when He wasn’t there for me. One moment without Him would be Hell. That’s what Hell is—life without God.

So, think about it. Really think about what Paul said.

Would you wish yourself cut off from the life-giver, from the reason for the world, from your every breath, for the sake of your brothers?

‘til next week, friends,

Anna

Please remember to pray for our brothers and sisters in Japan, Hawaii, and the Pacific Coast who are preparing for and suffering the evils of a tsunami.