Monday, March 10, 2014

Perspective: Empty versus Emptying

Now that the season of Lent has begun, I keep reflecting on the empty tomb.  The fact that Jesus's body was no longer there meant bad news for the guards who were charged with keeping watch, but it meant good news to all who believed:  Jesus had conquered death once and for all.

As I've thought about the empty tomb, I've wondered about what emptying needs to take place in my life during Lent.  Things that come to mind include bitterness, frustration, selfishness, anxiousness, discontentment, and the list could go on.  I know that in my own power, I can't rid myself of these behaviors or reset my default to joy.  I need to tap into the resurrection power that Jesus displayed in emptying the tomb and that He gives to me.

And the best part, even better than being emptied of those things I listed above, is that once they are gone, I then have the capacity to better live out the fruit of the Spirit, showing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Who doesn't want that?!

So as you go through Lent, if you decide to give up something, think about what you are making room for and all the good that can be accomplished with His power when you are empty.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. - Philippians 2:5-7

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