We are now entering our 3rd week of the Lenten season.  Every year as we enter this season I ask myself, “What exactly is Lent and what does it mean to me?”  To me it is a very solemn time when I am reminded of how sinful I truly am.  Every Sunday I go to church to confess my sins and to praise God for the wonderful Maker that He is – only to find myself struggling with my sinful nature even before I have made it home.  Paul states in Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  Sin, unfortunately, something we will struggle with the rest of our lives.  Sin, brought into the world when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden.  “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned“ (Romans 5:12). 

Fortunately for us, we have a loving and caring God who sacrificed His only son to pay the full price for our sins.  This is a sacrifice beyond belief.  This is a love beyond compare.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).  His love is immeasurable!!!!    We “are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:24). 

Grace, something I do not deserve yet it has been freely given to me.  All that I have to do is accept it and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior.  So what does Lent mean to me?  The Lenten season is a reminder to me of my sinful nature.  I am ashamed of the times when I let my sins get the best of me.  It is a reminder to me of how loving and caring our God truly is, that He would accept a poor miserable sinner like me.   I am truly humbled to receive such undeserving love.  It is also a reminder to me of God’s Grace and Righteousness.  I am in awe of God and His power, and anxiously await to be with Him in heaven!

I wish God’s blessings upon you all this Lenten season.

Becky Aragon, GSLC President