March 3, 2006

Dear family and friends of WCPC:

Yesterday Jullie and I spent the day working in the yard. Our main focus was getting ready for spring. We had some beautiful banana trees in our back yard which the frost this winter killed. They had to be cut down. It was a messy affair. Jullie also pruned some trees and plants, making way for new growth and life later this spring.

As I was working the thought that occurred to me was how much the spiritual life parallels what we were doing in our yard. In order for there to be new life, new growth, we have to discard that which is dead or dying in our lives. We have to discard those things in our lives that are causing us to die spiritually.

Maybe over the course of the years we’ve developed habits that aren’t spiritually healthy. We’ve ignored God’s Word, prayer. We’ve devalued the importance of worship or study or service or Christian fellowship. Maybe it’s our attitudes towards others, particularly those who are different. Maybe we’ve gotten caught up in believing that the key to happiness is found in things. Maybe…—you finish the sentence.

As we approach spring, as we experience Lent, which prepares us for the good news of the empty tomb, I think God would invite each of us to give some prayerful thought to areas in our lives that need some pruning or others that we need to abandon entirely. It’s not an easy process. It’s messy. But the end result will be not only a brighter, richer, Easter experience but a fuller, richer life each day.

In the 8^th chapter of Mark’s gospel Jesus asks His disciples some pointed questions. He asks, “For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for the life?” (verses 36–37). What are you exchanging your life for? Have you settled for something less than what God desires? If so, what keeps you from moving toward His will for you?

May this Lenten season be one in which we all do some messy soul work.

Blessings and peace,

David Jones

Our Lenten series is entitled “Amazing Grace.” Each Sunday we will consider the amazing and surprising grace made real in Jesus Christ. This Sunday my message is based on John 13 and the title of the sermon, “Jesus Did What?” We also will celebrate communion at both services. Give yourself time between now and Sunday morning to consider the questions I’ve raised in this devotional. I will be.