Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” –John 6:35, NRSV
Lent has begun. What should we do? Jesus didn’t get a free pass on the desert. Luke says the Holy Spirit led him there. He didn’t resist the wilderness; he chose it. The liturgical calendar wisely gives us space to follow him on our own little 40–day trip to the spiritual hinterlands. For a short time we get to go without. Scarcity is a useful tool for smoking out the latest kingdom in our heads. Better, fasting from what we want is a means of grace that recalls us to the real kingdom: the Reign of God preached and embodied in Jesus Christ.
Let whoever is hungry come.–Anthony Chvala-Smith, The Kingdoms in Our Heads
Reflection:
- How are you invited to choose the wilderness this Lenten season?
- What spiritual gifts are available when you intentionally “go without?” What invitation may be present in scarcity?
- Prayerfully dwell in John 6:35. What is God’s invitation to you in this text? For what do you truly hunger?
