Would you believe it – we’re already over 10% of the way through 2026 and Lent is looming fast on the horizon! The basic idea with Lent is that we intentionally set aside time to prayerfully reflect on our relationship with God over the weeks between Ash Wednesday (this year on 18th February) and Easter. The purpose is to ensure we are spiritually ready for our commemoration of Holy Week as it builds towards the darkest day – the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday – before light and joy burst forth on Easter Day itself as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.
The period of Lent is modelled on the time that Jesus spent in the Wilderness having been led there by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by the devil. This is seen as his preparation for beginning his full-time earthly ministry (see Matthew 4:1-11) and follows straight after the highpoint of his baptism. There is no time for a party to celebrate that special day when God declared Jesus to be his Son. He is immediately whisked away into the desert for 40 days and 40 nights to dedicate himself to fasting and prayer.
Jesus’ temptation comes in three different forms. First, there is the lure to use his power to meet his physical need for food – fasting weakens both the body and the mind, yet Jesus stood firm. Second, there is the temptation to show off his spiritual authority by putting God, the Father, to the test. Foiled once more the devil delivers the final temptation, encouraging Jesus to take earthly wealth and power for himself – but that comes with a great price, to bow down and worship the devil himself, foregoing his mission as God’s own Son.
The devil still prowls this earth, tempting, and many succumb to his lies. The results of doing so are at the heart of the disturbing news headlines we’re living through at this moment in our history. News of men using their power purely for personal gratification and the soul-less acquisition of riches. Not only do they leave in their wake a vast number of individual victims, whose ongoing welfare should be of primary concern, but now the future of our government is in jeopardy for its failure to recognise how deceitful one man can be, seriously impacting the welfare of our whole nation. We await to see what price will be paid by the self-styled “Dark Lord” beyond being cast into the political wilderness.
In all his temptations it is crucial to note that Jesus overcomes them by using God’s word in the Bible. We too find our protection from the devil’s lies by grounding our lives in scripture and prayer. We can all grow in this respect by taking to time to read and reflect on the Bible on our own but something really powerful happens – in a spiritual sense – when we come together to explore God’s precious word to us. This is what we will be doing in the Lent Course being run here, in the southern end of our Mission Community at Newton Poppleford. Over the course of the next 7 weeks – starting next Thursday (12th February) – we will be going into ‘The Wilderness’ in its various representations in the Bible to discover not just the hardship that implies but also the hope that blossoms in even the most challenging of circumstances. We all, at some time in our lives, experience periods when we feel like we are in the wilderness. Come join us and discover how, even in those darkest of days, we can discover the living God present with us and longing to help lead us through to light and life.
Do see our events page for details of this and the Ottery-based Lent course.