Today is Spiritual Journey Thursday, a day for me to spend some time turning toward God. Please feel free to join me on this journey each Thursday with Holly Mueller and friends. For the next several weeks, Holly will be featuring our one little words. Today's featured word is DIVE from Greg Armamentos at Dash - Life Between the Numbers.
Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent for many of the world's religions. It is a time of penance, fasting, and prayer for forgiveness. As a cradle Catholic, many discussions in our house at this time of year was about "What are you giving up for Lent?" I don't necessarily agree with this because I don't think giving something up changes me. Instead, I always wanted to add something or do something to change me to help me grow closer to Jesus and to deepen my faith.
Keeping this in mind and reflecting on what this spiritual journey really means to me, I have decided to focus the next 40 days on scripture. Or to keep with the theme of the OLW - I am going to DIVE into scripture. As a Catholic, I am not as well versed in scripture as I would like to be, which is another reason for me to DIVE in.
"All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in the righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." ~ 2Timothy 3:16-17
Each day I want to spend time reading the Bible and focusing on one scripture verse. My routine will consist of the following:
- Prepare my heart and my mind to listen to the voice of God.
- Call on the Holy Spirit to help me pray (because this is another weakness of mine.)
- Read the scripture, taking time to think and meditate on how I can respond to the verse.
- Finish with a prayer and a resolution to follow Jesus more closely each day of Lent.
- Write in my journal or on my blog my thoughts and response.
Please check back during the next 40 days and DIVE into scripture with me. I would love for you to join me.
Leigh Anne - I love the practical and essential expression of "diving in" that you mapped out here. I look forward to following along and learning from your insights and your transformational process of turning.
ReplyDeleteI heard a lot of people on the news, Facebook, and radio talking today about the idea of giving to or gaining something during Lent instead of giving up something. Your idea of diving into scripture seems to capture that spirit. I will be checking back!
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful idea. I am planning on adding something, too, rather than giving up. I am adding meditation, much like your 40 days of scripture. I do stop and journal after meditation. Writing clears things up for me.
ReplyDeleteLeigh Anne, I did hear the deacon talk about the traditional ritual of giving up something for Lent. Of course, this is a practice that I would like to engage in but only if I can add something important. The Church gave out Lenten booklets with daily devotionals, so I am going to try to follow that practice daily and dive into Lent with a faithful stance.
ReplyDeleteI love how you share with the reader practical steps to follow. It makes your plan tangible for all. What a gift. I will certainly be checking in.
ReplyDeleteLeigh Anne, I'm amazed at the commitment you've made to deepen your faith by diving into scripture. There's so much I can learn from your focused steps that follow your commitment. I'll be back to follow along.
ReplyDeleteIsn't this what Lent is supposed to be? Giving up time to do something else and bring the focus back on God! I will be following your story.
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