Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Breaking Bread: Lent, a spiritual preparation for Easter

27/03/2023

Breaking Bread: Lent, a spiritual preparation for EasterThe time of Lent is a call to renew a commitment grown dull by a life filled with routine rather than reflection.

by Vernon Cloete

27-03-2023 10:00

in It Is Written

Give it to God and rest. Trusting God. Photo: PEXELS/Tara Winstead

It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. What a profound truth! A realisation that eases the grip of life on man - surrendering to God in all things. Partake in this feast as we consume food for the soul, nourishing the spirit in Breaking Bread. It is Monday, 27th March 2023.

--

Lent is a season of spiritual preparation by Christians before Easter. It usually starts on Ash Wednesday. As Christians we go through a period of fasting, repentance, self-denial and spiritual discipline for 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter. This is remind-full of Israel's 40 years in the wilderness before they arrived in the Promised land. It is also a reminder of the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness before His public ministry began.

The purpose of lent is to set aside time to focus on Jesus Christ to do a reflection on Jesus Christ by looking at His suffering, sacrifices and His life, death and resurrection.

The thoughts of our hearts lead to actions. The concentrations of the meditation of our hearts should therefore be committed to Him during this Lenten season. As Jude said once: contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.'' All of us strive to recognise our need and desire to meet with God, but remember He strives more faithfully to empower us.

--

We should therefore live in such a way that proclaims our faith in Christ- No matter the pressure of society, no matter the dangers we face in life.

We should remember the following things during this Lenten season:

God is always calling us to a deeper union with Him

He invites us during this period to search our hearts

God wants us to uncover our hidden faults, to tear down our idols and walls which prevent His presence to dwell inside us

We must lengthen our hearts to make room for God to dwell in and to secure His presence in our hearts

We need to leave Egypt behind like the Israelites- In other words we need to leave our past behind and sin no more.

--

Now, we should begin a journey of becoming a new creation in Jesus Christ. We are all destined to experience the presence and the pleasure of the Lord in our lives forever. So, let us take the first step into the wilderness this Lenten season remember, there is no other path that leads to the Promised Land. Whatever we give up during this Lenten period of 2023 as a sacrifice to remember the Cross, death and resurrection of Jesus, let it not be for the sake of Lent, but let this strengthen our relationship with God and result in us being new creations in Christ.

PRAYER Dear Lord, may Your light guide us during this period of sacrifice and may Your Spirit bring us everlasting peace. May our sacrifices of this Lenten period remind us of our dependence on You for all the blessings that we enjoy. Lord, all we want is to be faithful to You in our lives, but we fail so often. Guide us to the life we want to share with You. Amen.

ALSO READ: Breaking Bread: The Lord is our good Shepard.

Lent was deel van die praktyk van die kerk vir eeue. Die kalender van die Christen het seisoene soos Advent, Kersfees, Paasfees en Pinkster. Dit is tye wanneer ons fokus op die koms, dood, opstanding van Jesus en die uitstorting van die Heilige Gees. Ons fokus egter in hierdie oordenking op die 40 dae tydperk (Lent) vanaf As Woensdag tot by Paasfees. Christene word gedurende hierdie tydperk dwarsdeur die wereld aangemoedig om aan n 40 dae voorbereidingstyd deel te neem in aanloop tot die Paasgebeure.

40 is ook nie n toevallige getal nie. Die getal verteenwoordig n geloofsgeskiedenis, n tydperk van intense geestelike voorbereiding. Moses was 40jaar lank in die woestyn voordat God hom geroep het tot nasiebou en mensebevryding. Jesus het 40 dae lank in die woestyn met die bose geworstel voordat Hy met Sy openbare bediening begin het. Met ons deelname aan Lent deel ons saam met ons Christen broers en susters dwarsoor die wereld aan hierdie geloofsgeskiedenis.

Hoekom moet ons Lent ernstig opneem:

Ons word deur hierdie Lent periode die geleentheid gegee om oor ons lewens te besin;

Gedurende die Lent periode sien ons ook die wegdryf van ons geloof raak;

Ons kry ook die geleentheid om meer intensioneel in ons navolging van Christus te word gedurende Lent;

Lent berei ons voor om Paasfees, die herdenking van die dood en opstanding van Jesus, dieper te beleef;

Kom ons deel deel hierdie Lent-reistog met iemand of met n groepie mense. Die gedagte is om op hierdie manier, nie mekaar te fix'' nie maar om mekaar aan te moedig en te ondersteun. Ek deel hierdie reistog met my vrou, Bonita, en ek kan u almal verseker dit is die moeite werd. Dit hou ons naby God en laat beleef ons opnuut die krag van die Evangelie en hoe dit lei tot die vestiging van n nuwe mens'' in Christus.

Ons moet altyd onthou dat die doel van Lent is om na te dink oor die lewe,dood en opstanding van Jesus Christus. Wat ons ookal opgee gedurende hierdie tyd, moet die resultaat inhou van die versterking van ons geloofverhouding met God.

So laat ons die eerste stap gee na die woestyn hierdie Lent- seisoen want dit is die enigste pad wat lei tot die Beloofde Land.

GEBED Dankie Here vir U liefde en omgee vir ons as U skape. Dankie dat U gesterf het aan die Kruis sodat ons U vrede kan ervaar en aanneem in ons families. Here, help ons om maniere te vind om U vrede te soek veral wat ons verhoudinge met andere betref gedurende die lent-seisoen 2023. Help ons ook om ons lewens af te le vir ander. Amen.

How much of a rugby fanatic
LINK: https://www.thesouthafrican.com/culture/christian-connect/it-is-writte...
See more stories from thesouthafrican

Most recent headlines

04/09/2025

Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Dalet Win Prestigious 2025 NAB Show Project of the Year Award

Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...

22/05/2025

Shutterstock Tips and Tricks

Shutterstock Tips and Tricks Brie Clayton May 21, 2025 0 Comments Shutterstock is a vast stock content website with a lot to offer. It boasts a librar...

22/05/2025

Music Marketing: 5 Practical Strategies for Independent Artists

Music Marketing: 5 Practical Strategies for Independent Artists Five ways help you build visibility, engage your audience, and grow your fanbase-including one...

21/05/2025

Spotify Electrifies CMA Fest 2025: Here's All You Need To Know

When CMA Fest springs to life in Nashville each year, Spotify House is always one of the top destinations-and 2025 will be no different. For the sixth year, Spo...

21/05/2025

A New Way for Fans To Get Hyped for New Albums Is Here-Meet the Upcoming Releases Hub

Marking a first, Spotify has launched the Upcoming Releases hub-a destination so...

21/05/2025

SGL Carbon Annual General Meeting elects new Supervisory Board member

At todays Annual General Meeting, the shareholders of SGL Carbon SE discharged the Board of Management and Supervisory Board for the 2024 fiscal year and approv...

21/05/2025

Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida Enhances Intercom Infrastructure

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......

21/05/2025

Blue Man Group Puts Clear-Com's FreeSpeak Icon to the Test in Las Vegas

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......

21/05/2025

Nielsen releases its 2025 Annual Marketing Report looking at the power of data-driven marketing

The seventh annual report uncovers how marketers are adapting to market trends a...

21/05/2025

The Gauge: Mexico April 2025

During April, streaming's share of TV viewing in Mexico showed a slight decrease of 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous month, accounting for 24....

21/05/2025

The Gauge: Streaming Peaks Again, Drawing from Successful Multiplatform Strategies

Streaming Accounts for 44.3% of TV viewing in April, vs. 45.3% for Broadcast and...

21/05/2025

The Gauge: Poland | April 2025

The April 2025 data is in line with the seasonal trend observed in previous years. As in April last year, there was a decline in viewership associated with impr...

21/05/2025

Comcast Advertising Launches New AI Ad-Creation Platform

NEW YORK Comcast Advertising has launched a new AI creative platform that will make it much easier for small businesses and local advertisers to market and prom...

21/05/2025

Zeam Media Launches Zeamcast' Marketplace for Local Broadcasts

Streaming solutions provider Zeam Media is launching ZeamCast, a marketplace that enables streamers to add local content to their lineup and offers local statio...

21/05/2025

Baris Zavaroglu Appointed as the New CEO of Zero Density

Baris Zavaroglu Appointed as the New CEO of Zero Density Brie Clayton May 21, 2025 0 Comments Zero Density, a global leader in virtual studio producti...

21/05/2025

TAG Video Systems and swXtchio Unveil Advanced Cloud-Base...

TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP media probing, monitoring, visualization, and analytics, and swXtch.io, the leading provider of cloud-based m...

21/05/2025

Comcast Advertising Bows New AI Ad-Creation Platform

NEW YORK Comcast Advertising has launched a new AI creative platform that will make it much easier for small businesses and local advertisers to market and prom...

21/05/2025

Prime Video Unveils Tech Plans for NASCAR Cup Series

NEW YORK Prime Video has released some of its tech plans for the NASCAR Cup Series, which begins on Sunday, May 25 at 5 p.m. ET with the Coca-Cola 600 from Char...

21/05/2025

Matrox ORIGIN Achieves AWS Foundational Technical Review (FTR) Validation

MONTREAL Matrox Video has announced that it has successfully completed the AWS Foundational Technical Review (FTR) for Matrox ORIGIN....

21/05/2025

NBCU's Clarence Hau to Receive 2025 ATSC Mark Richer Leadership Medal

WASHINGTON Clarence Hau, NBCUniversal senior vice president of standards, policy and advanced engineering, has been named the 2025 recipient of the Advanced Tel...

21/05/2025

Space42 to Showcase Next-Generation SpaceTech Solutions at CommunicAsia 2025

Space42's debut at CommunicAsia 2025 to demonstrate advances in satellite communications, Earth observation, and high-altitude connectivity tailored for Asi...

21/05/2025

Future-Fit Seal Credits Space42 for Enabling UAE's Next-Generation Geospatial Infrastructure

GIQ platform developed by Space42 in partnership with the UAE Space Agency power...

21/05/2025

PGA TOUR's Live Drone AR Snags the George Wensel Technical Achievement Award at 46th Sports Emmy Awards

PGA TOUR's Live Drone AR Snags the George Wensel Technical Achievement Award...

21/05/2025

2025 Sports Emmys: ABC/ESPN's Phil Dean on SEC on ABC

2025 Sports Emmys: ABC/ESPN's Phil Dean on SEC on ABC By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. Wednesday, May 21, 2025 - 2:33 pm Print This Story | ...

21/05/2025

2025 Sports Emmys: NBC Sports' Molly Solomon on the 2024 Paris Olympic Games

2025 Sports Emmys: NBC Sports' Molly Solomon on the 2024 Paris Olympic Games By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. Wednesday, May 21, 2025 - 2:40 pm...

21/05/2025

2025 Sports Emmys: FOX Sports' Matt Gangl on Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues

2025 Sports Emmys: FOX Sports' Matt Gangl on Rickwood Field: A Tribute to th...

21/05/2025

Paris 2024 Olympics Top 46th Sports Emmy Awards With 10 Wins; NBC and ESPN Lead All Networks With 13 Apiece

Paris 2024 Olympics Top 46th Sports Emmy Awards With 10 Wins; NBC and ESPN Lead ...

21/05/2025

VOICE-NO! Brits call time on long voice notes

Wednesday 21 May 2025 Brits call for voice notes to be capped at two minutes after research reveals the nation is suffering from VNF - Voice Note Fatigue Voice...

21/05/2025

ElastiFlow and Rohde & Schwarz collaborate to deliver unmatched network traffic insights

ElastiFlow and Rohde & Schwarz collaborate to deliver unmatched network traffic ...

21/05/2025

Big Mouth' Prepares for a Happy Ending With Cross-Country Farewell Tour

Back to All News Big Mouth' Prepares for a Happy Ending With Cross-Country Farewell Tour From left to right: Big Mouth' co-creators Andrew Goldberg,...

21/05/2025

Arvato Systems receives gold award at Service Provider Award in the category AI as a Service Provider

Arvato Systems Receives Gold Award at Service Provider Award in the Category AI...

21/05/2025

RT appoints Eleanor O'Shaughnessy as Chief Risk and Compliance Officer

RT is pleased to announce the appointment of Eleanor O'Shaughnessy as Chief Risk and Compliance Officer (CRCO), following a public competition. Eleanor bri...

21/05/2025

NVIDIA and SAP Bring AI Agents to the Physical World

As robots increasingly make their way to the largest enterprises' manufacturing plants and warehouses, the need for access to critical business and operatio...

21/05/2025

Tawazun Council and Thales Sign Agreement to Establish Ground Master Air Surveillance Radar Production Facility in UAE

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn As part of the Tawazun Economic Program, Thales ...

20/05/2025

New Channel Growth Leader at X2O

MONTR AL - November 6, 2024 - X2O Media, a global provider of hybrid learning and training solutions, today announced Jamie Gryce as its new Channel Manager for...

20/05/2025

Press Release: ToolsOnAir to release version 2025.2 of just:in mac capture solutions for macOS.

Press Release: ToolsOnAir to release version 2025.2 of just:in mac capture solut...

20/05/2025

Press Release: ToolsOnAir to release version 2025.1 Playout solutions for macOS.

Press Release: ToolsOnAir to release version 2025.1 Playout solutions for macOS. Vienna, Austria. May 9th, 2025 ToolsOnAir, a leading provider of broadcast...

20/05/2025

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Matt Wolf, the Filmmaker Behind Pee-wee as Himself

By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festi...

20/05/2025

Six Captivating Audiobooks Amplify Asian and Pacific Islander Artists

Throughout the month of May, Spotify is celebrating Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month by amplifying the many artists, creators, and authors who share th...

20/05/2025

Songs of Summer 2025: Spotify's Global Editors Predicts the Anthems That Will Soundtrack the Season

It's officially summer on Spotify and, once again, our team of best-in-class...

20/05/2025

Sunbeam Television and Nielsen's Local TV Agreement Now Includes ABC Miami and WSVN, a Fox Affiliate

Extended agreement includes Local TV and OTT measurement and Digital Content Rat...

20/05/2025

2025-04-04

Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system that delivers helpful and relevant intelligence while taking an extraordinary step forward for privacy in A...

20/05/2025

Magnite, Amazon Publisher Services Extend Streaming TV Collaboration

NEW YORK Amazon Publisher Services (APS) and independent sell-side advertising company Magnite are collaborating more deeply on streaming TV through the APS Tra...

20/05/2025

Sunbeam Television Expands Nielsen's Local TV Agreement

NEW YORK Nielsen and Sunbeam Television have announced an extension of their agreement to include ABC Miami, which will begin broadcasting as part of Sunbeam in...

20/05/2025

FCC Approves Verizon-Frontier Merger After Verizon Backs Down on DEI

WASHINGTON The FCC has approved Verizon's $20 billion acquisition of Frontier, which was first announced last Sepembert. As part of the agency's decisio...

20/05/2025

Netflix to Stream Sesame Street'

Netflix and PBS have announced new deals with Sesame Workshop that will see new episodes of Sesame Street stream on Netflix and air on PBS Kids....

20/05/2025

ARRI Signs Agreement to Sell Claypaky to EK

MUNICH ARRI has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its lighting subsidiary Claypaky to EK Inc., a major Chinese designer and manu...

20/05/2025

Spectrum Launches Statewide News Channel In Michigan

LIVONIA, Mich. Spectrum News has expanded its reach with the launch of Spectrum News Michigan....

20/05/2025

From Death Becomes Her to Dead Outlaw, Boston Conservatory Actors Are Killing It This Awards Season

From Death Becomes Her to Dead Outlaw, Boston Conservatory Actors Are Killing It...

20/05/2025

NBA Western Conference Finals: ESPN's InsightCast' Features Avatar Shot Charts, Virtual 3D Replays, Immersive Analysis

NBA Western Conference Finals: ESPN's InsightCast' Features Avatar Shot...