Lean Tuesday

 "When you were dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us, he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." Colossians 2: 13-15

    Although she meant well, I inwardly cringed when a coworker brought in rich pastries. I thanked her kindly but did not participate in this Fat Tuesday tradition. Originally, this tradition began as an act of preparation for the austerity of Lent but seems to have evolved into a time of binging with little regard for the work Christ did at the cross of Calvary.

    The goriness of Good Friday, with the penalties assailed upon the Son of God, as evidenced in the flogging, the mockery, the crown of thorns and the ghastly crucifixion, is not to be taken with a frivolous air. How can I scarf a fat-laden pastry knowing what my Friend did for me, knowing it was my sin that drove Him to Jerusalem?

   Those who crucified Jesus thought they had won by making a public spectacle of Him. But on that day, the Son of Man disarmed the powers of evil and the authorities that condemned us when the triumph Satan smugly thought was his was stripped from him forever. In exchange, we as believers were given these incredible benefits:

• We are a new creation
• We are chosen, holy and blameless
• We have been adopted to Sonship, becoming a member of the royal household
• Glorious grace has been lavished on us
• We have redemption through His blood
• Forgiveness of our sins is given
• We are privy to the mystery of the will of God
• We have hope, peace and unity with all things in heaven and earth
• We are marked in Him with a seal, the Holy Spirit
• We will be raised with Christ and seated with Him in the heavenly realms
• We may approach God with freedom and confidence

    Certainly, in itself, there is nothing wrong with bringing in pastries to share. I only pine for the evidence of true penitence and reverence to follow in response to the expansive love of Christ.

"And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2: 6, 7