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Gospel: Mark 10:28-31
Peter began to say to Jesus,
‘We have given up everything and followed you.”
Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.
But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Do you remember learning how to ride a bicycle?
I’ve seen pictures of myself peddling my plastic tricycle in our family driveway as a toddler. Then I became a “big boy,” graduating to a real bicycle with training wheels. Eventually, I outgrew those, too, and had to learn how to pedal on my own.
That’s the scary part.
I’m sure many parents have had that heart dropping feeling of watching your child wobble without training wheels. At first, you hold onto the back of their seat as they struggle finding their balance.
Soon enough, children develop a sense of confidence and insist on you letting go as they push and pedal on their own. For some, that command leads to a crash landing.
For others, newfound freedom.
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That’s what Lent is all about.
Learning how to wobble. Pedal. Push. Balance.
Spiritually speaking, how to grow up.
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Most of the year, we fight with the Lord, trying to wrestle control of our lives, without really wanting God to let go. Think of a child trying to pedal on their own, while finding comfort knowing that Mom or Dad is still holding on.
But during these days of Lent, in a sense, God lets go.
He puts us to the test.
He allows us to pedal on our own, discovering for ourselves what we’re made of; how spiritually mature we are.
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus is put to the test; tempted.
At his baptism, God affirmed him, saying from the heavens, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” Then the Spirit drives Jesus into the desert, where he must learn how to resist the devil – and, you might say, pedal on his own.
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Generally, when we think of the word “temptation,” we think about it in a negative sense. Temptations are those people and things that are not really good for us, yet we allow them to exercise an unfair amount of control in our lives.
As Mark Twain once said, “The best way to get rid of temptation is to give into it.”
However, in the bible, the word “temptation” has a double meaning; it’s not only used in a negative sense, but also in a positive sense.
While it does imply the trickery of the devil, or things that lure us away from virtuous living and the Lord, the word “temptation” also implies a divine “test.”
God tests our hearts – not to make us fail; rather, to strengthen us to do his will. In the case of Jesus, the desert is the place where he prepares for ministry.
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During the course of his public ministry, Jesus did many wonderful things for others, but own personal journey was riddled with difficulty.
He was criticized by the religious authorities, misunderstood by his own family, betrayed by Judas, abandoned by his friends, and eventually left for dead, beaten and bloodied on a cross.
Yes, the devil attacked him. Yes, Jesus was confronted by evil. But through it all, he persevered and did his Father’s will perfectly because of the strength he cultivated during those forty days in the desert.
Humanly speaking, you might say, that’s where Jesus learned how to ride. He wobbled. Pedaled. Pushed his way through those initial temptations.
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As we prepare for yet another Lent, perhaps God is calling us to dive deeper. Not simply to give up chocolate, coffee, or social media for forty days, repressing a particular appetite, but to really examine our conscience, asking questions like:
How important is God in my life? How much control do certain temptations have over me? How rich is my prayer life? How considerate am I of others?
Spiritually, have I learned how to ride my bike? Am I truly free to choose good and reject evil?
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May God cast out any fear from our hearts, allowing us to wobble our way through Lent. To push. Pedal. Strive. Balance.
To discover that freedom, which allows us to do our Father’s will, to Calvary and beyond.
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Image credits: (1) Christ’s Charge to Peter, Raphael (2) Pexels (3) Open Music Archive, University of Salford Art Collection