Home | About Us | Bishop's Office | 2024 Lenten Devotions | Saturday, March 30, 2024

BISHOP'S OFFICE

When I was younger, I used to look forward to Holy Saturday because I knew that it was the last day that I was expected to fast from the things that I said I would give up for Lent. My parents used to make us write those things down. I would often put on my list the things I needed to do less of us like eating sweets, soda, and chips. As I matured in my faith, I gained a deeper understanding of the meaning of Lent. I began to put not only the things I wanted to give up and let go of on my list, but also the things I wanted to take on and add to my life. I started adding to my list things like being more patient with others and becoming more disciplined in prayer.

The season of Lent is a journey of surrendering our will to God. It is a journey of transformation. It is a time for us to gain more of Christ and for our faith to be renewed in Christ.

Jesus came to love and to serve. He gave his life to set us free from sin and from the burdens of life. He knows temptation. He knows discouragement. He knows loneliness and betrayal. He knows pain and suffering.  He knows grief and death. And he knows the power of the resurrection. Jesus knows us and cares about all that concerns us.

What are the struggles or sin in your life that you need to give up and let go of? What are you missing or seeking to add to your life? Peter encourages us not to dwell on our past or focus on who we once were but to choose to live a life fully surrendered to Jesus Christ.

Almighty God help us to surrender all our past , our worries and needs to you.  May your will be done in our lives.

Bishop Tracy S. Malone wrote this devotion for publication in The Upper Room Disciplines: A Book of Daily Devotions 2024, available at www.cokesbury.com.