Wednesday of the First Week of Lent

          

  We have been given the gift of free will, the ability to choose our life’s actions. From the moment we rise in the morning to the moment we lay our head back down on the pillow in the evening, we choose. We choose to brush our teeth before combing our hair; we choose to say hello or good morning; we choose to walk to class down the Commons or down Mulberry. Our choices create our habits.

            In today’s scripture, John tells the story of Nineveh. This great city was living in sin, so God sent Jonah to warn them of their future if they continued their unholy ways. Upon hearing Jonah’s announcement, the people changed their ways. They began to fast, put on sackcloth, and repent. Nineveh was saved because God saw that the people believed.

            This Lent we are called to repent and sacrifice, as we do every year, but as we reach adulthood we must challenge ourselves to sacrifice our lazy, childish ways and actively choose God. The Ninevites had become so enraptured in their own lives that God was lost and faith destroyed. It was not until they were told to repent, that they awoke and began to live. In choosing to live without God, we choose darkness. We live an unlived life.

            So, how do we choose God? How do we really know we are choosing Him? Simple. We choose to believe.  Our faith alone can save us. It saved the Ninevites and, so too, it can save you. This Lent be open to that faith. Let it encompass you and be obedient to your innermost wants. What your heart longs for is God, so be still and listen.

           

- S.B.