“March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.”

            Remember that old phrase?  I don’t know the source, but I do know it always sets my mind for the month.  In like a lion and out like a lamb.  I always assumed it meant the weather – stormy at the beginning, a little calmer towards the end.  As we have all been reminded this year, there are no guarantees about that.  Weather does what it will do and we hang on in the stormy moments and revel in the calm. 

            What if we extended that phrase to more than just a month on the calendar or to weather changes?  What if we allowed it to challenge us about our lives of faith during this season of Lent? 

            I consider my own beginnings in my faith journey.  My first experiences with a personal relationship with Jesus took place at church camps, at lay witness missions.  I started with a fire, with a zeal to serve God.  I was like a lion – intense about every aspect of the faith, from Bible study to prayer to involvement in the church.  As I grew older and that early zeal wore off, there was a time when I found myself being satisfied with doing less.   In those days I found myself in a crisis of faith – wondering what had happened to that early zeal.  I found myself seeking more, seeking to know what God was calling me to.  That is now a daily quest.

            You see, those are some of the most dangerous words in our faith…being satisfied with doing less.  Is that something you can relate to?  Do you find yourself in a satisfied place in your faith?  Are you doing less believing "it’s someone else’s turn”?  Did you start out in faith like a lion, intense, fierce, intentional, and find yourself in more of a sedate place, a lamb-like state, now?

            The season of Lent is the time to reflect on that.  We make an intentional journey of 40 days, remembering the sacrifice of Jesus the Christ.  We make an intentional journey of 40 days, walking in his steps.  We make an intentional journey of 40 days, letting go of worldly goods, of things, in order to focus on what he calls us to do and be.  We make an intentional journey of 40 days seeking to never be satisfied with doing less.

            Be a lion!  Take a risk in faith!  Be intentional about seeking God’s will.  Be intentional about serving more. 

                                                         On the Lenten journey together,

Pastor Morita