Another 40 Day Project

I'm not Catholic. I've never "done" Lent. However, this year, I am feeling compelled to prepare my heart for Resurrection Sunday (I prefer calling it what I celebrate; the resurrection of Jesus on the third day after His death.). Lent is a 40 day fast that is supposed to represent Jesus' 40 days in the desert overcoming the temptations by Satan. It's recorded in Luke 4.

I'm not fasting. I am on a mission. I am reading Luke 4 for 40 days. I am pondering this story. I am examining my own heart and ways.  I am thinking about Jesus being in a desert and the lack of comfortable living he endured. I am thinking about how the text clearly mentions that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness. I am thinking about the three recorded ways the devil tempted Jesus. I am thinking about how at the end of the temptation period, the devil departed from Him until an opportune time. I am thinking about how Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit and thus began His ministry.

I shall imagine what it would be like to live 40 days in the wilderness (in the area Jesus was in, it would be like living in Arizona). I don't know if He had a tent, a camel, and a 40 day ration of water. I don't know if he took any good scrolls to read. I don't know if he stayed out of the skin cancer inducing UV rays. I don't know if he traveled by night and slept by day. I don't know if he had memorized the constellations to know which direction he was going.

You see, if it were me going for 40 days into the wilderness (especially if I knew I would be fasting), I would pack my Jeep with all the Costco water bottles I could fit in it. I would have 5 vat-sized SPF 50 sunblock lotion bottles.  I would have my sunglasses, my sunhat, a good pair of hiking shoes, a box of matches, some camp fire wood, a topographical map or a TomTom GPS, a portable chair, some chewing gum, my iPod with car charger, good books and magazines, a camera with some good lenses, a couple of pencils, a pen and a journal.

I would definitely be ready to capture whatever God wanted to tell me be it a scene, a word or some lyric from a great song.  I would be quasi-comfortable...like camping, but with more of a spiritual intent. Right?

So here is what I'm thinking I'm going to do for the next 40 days (we don't count Sundays for some reason during the Lent season otherwise it would be 46 days), I'm going to try to overcome temptation. I know the difference between eating for sustaining my life and eating because I'm tempted (like the creme brulee on the dessert tray after I have already broken the law against gluttony). Or like when I'm tempted to run off to the store for something that I really don't need. There's so many things I can be tempted by. But the choice is up to me. I have the inconvenience of not being in a desert. Temptation is everywhere.

I'll blog each day about my triumphs and (most likely) failures. This is an attempt to realize my real, true need. Jesus. Because like I said, if I were going somewhere for 40 days, I would...