Hey there church - today I'll be resharing the the devotional from our Lenten Devotionals "Gifts of the Spiritual Wilderness." If you enjoy this post or last weeks and have not yet picked up a copy of the devotional please take one from our lobby or ask one of our pastors if we can drop one off to you. We have 4 left as far as I know but I'll update this if I find more. Let's get those last 4 out of here. They make great gifts for friends and co-workers to get a little taste of faith this Lenten journey. See you on Monday with another original blog from me!
Devotional
Psalm 55:22
"Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved."
Sometimes our spiritual inventory can reveal significant burdens we've been carrying a long time. It takes much energy to hold unforgiveness, envy, resentment, bitterness, and lies; it takes a lot of time to chase after things in the name of greed and material gratification.
God asks us to lay down those burdens - and not pick them up again. Jesus' forty day wilderness journey is a distillation of what really matters. Jesus doesn't bring his "stuff" to the desert. He minimizes for the internal journey. He laid down when he didn't need - and he didn't return to retrieve it. This is a hard lesson.
Like Christ, we are called to take inventory of being human in a world that parches us. We are called to lay down the burdens in order to be sustained by God. When we do, God will not allow us to falter or fail. We will be sustained by that which really matters: Spiritual nourishment.
Spiritual Practice: What do you need to lay down? Make a quick list of the burdens that you need to give God. Once you have your list finished, fold your paper in half and tear it to bits. In this way, you have truly cast your burdens on the Lord and ensure that you do not pick them up again.
Praying the Hymns
I want to share this wonderful Ukrainian version of Come Thou Fount of Many Blessings that I found from BYU. As we continue to pray for our friends in Ukraine may we pray in their native tongue.
By the way I wanted to invite you to a prayer vigil that I helped organize alongside many faith traditions happening March 29th at 7:00pm at Triangle Park. More information can be found below :)
