A Southern Baptist Observes Lent - Day 2

I'd like to begin today with a quick clarification. I did not mean to imply yesterday that everyone who gives up something or practices the discipline of abstinence (that is not meant in the merely sexual sense of the word but in the technical sense of abstaining from any thing or activity) are only doing so for some other motive than to grow closer to God. Many honestly practice this discipline throughout Lent with the desire to know God and His grace and to use this time and this discipline to reflect on the suffering of Christ and rejoice in His resurrection and glory. My blog yesterday was more of a reflection of my personal experience (or lack of experience) with the observance of this season.

Now as for today, one of the reasons I choose to read a book of the Bible for each day of Lent was that I wanted to get away from picking apart a verse or two to find every detail in preparation for a sermon. Mind you this is something important that every Christian should do. However, it can also lead to a missing the forest due to the trees kind of effect if we (most specifically preachers) aren't careful. I wanted to take some time to read a book and really get a feel for the book as a whole. For instance today I read the book of Ecclesiastes. Typically, this book brings to mind "all is vanity" and a poem on there being a time for everything. Well, today when I read it I was constantly confronted with a desire to stop and just focus on one or two verses. Instead, I might have re-read those verses a few times but then continue on. In reading the whole book in a concentrated amount of time, I got a whole new feel for the book that I never had before. Ecclesiastes has this message of everything being a vain endeavor of life. To be perfectly honest, I've always felt that Ecclesiastes was a bit of a negative book. Today, I realized that the tone of the book is actually one of great freedom for the person who lives to fear God and keep His commandments. There is freedom when your life is lived for God and not for yourself (this is the vanity that the Teacher speaks of). It is exactly for this type of revelation that I choose to read a complete book of the Bible each day.

One final note as to why I am reading a book a day. By doing this I am obligating myself to stop, slow down, and to simply devote myself to hearing His Word. This isn't simply about completing reading assignments but about abiding in Him.