The Lenten Path

​…make straight the way of the Lord…John 1:23

​I remember a stage in my early teenage years when my bedroom frequently looked as if there had been an explosion of some sort, and it drove my mom nuts!  One Saturday morning I “cleaned” my room, and she made it crystal clear that it did not meet her standards.  I had cleared a straight path from my bed to the door and quoted a version of these very words from Johns Gospel and showed her how I had clearly made “a straight way for the Lord”.  She assured me he was going to need a much wider path.

My mom’s assurance is true today!  I realize I don’t always make the path to my heart straight or wide.  I need to give God room to come into my heart and do his mighty works of mercy.  I have all kinds of things in the way that make His way tricky to maneuver. I make Him wind his way around jealousy and pride and selfishness.  The path hooks to the left when I toss in impatience and judgmental thinking.  The way really goes sideways when control, bitterness and gossip get tossed into the mix.

Today we find ourselves in the beginning part of our Lenten path, so I ask…how’s it going so far?  Do a quick survey of your travels so far and ponder the “give ups” and the “do extras” you plotted out on Ash Wednesday. Discipline and sacrifice are so good for us but be sure to ask yourself if the things you planned are designed to help you grow in holiness or are they things you’re going to pick right back up after Easter?  What about giving up things that really change our path?  The virtues offer a true depth to Lent for example, a reading about HONESTY popped up in my reading last week so I asked myself the question; how hard would it be to give up lying, fibbing or embellishing for Lent; and could that change us?  I shared that thought with some teenagers the other day and they responded with a resounding “YES, AND that would be harder than giving up candy or phone time!”

Making straight the way of the Lord means keeping my eyes on Him.  When my eyes are on Him and I’m preparing for Him to work in my life I discover I’m moving in a straight and forward direction.  He is the constant, the guide that straightens my way every time I re-adjust my focus on His way and not my own.  Perhaps as we continue on our Lenen path  we can pray for the Holy Spirit to help us identify the road blocks and detours that are in our path and we let that become a re-route or re-focus this Lent.

A Seed To Plant:  What clogs or kinks the path between Jesus and your heart?  Spend some time in prayer asking the Lord to straighten and widen the way to His love and mercy.  Loving Father, help me prepare a path to my heart that leads me straight to you.

​Blessings on your day!