Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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 End of fifteen days lent   & Independence Day

 Luke 6: 20- 26

“Blessed are you who are poor, the Kingdom of Heaven is yours. Blessed are you, who now hunger and weep. Blessed are you when people hate you. Alas for you who are rich. Alas for you when everyone speaks well of you, because this was the way their ancestors treated the false prophets.”
Today we are celebrating India’s Independence Day and observing the end of Fifteen Days of Lent. 
15 days of Lent in August celebrates the death of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. Lent is the season of the church year that follows the Epiphany Season. Lent has great significance in the Bible. We read in the Bible that Jesus, Moses, Hannah, Elijah, Ezra, Esther, Mordechai, and others fasted. It is the time we set aside each year to remember the love of God that is poured out through Jesus Christ on the cross in His death, His defeat of death, sin, and Satan, and His resurrection that brings Eternal Life to all of us. Lent does not mean just not eating meat, fish, and eggs. Can we say that many non-Christians who are strict vegetarians are observing lent? Lent is a time to remember our transgressions, it is a time to repent and return to God, it is a time to humble ourselves, it is a time to stop our contentions, strife, and quarrels and it is a time to care and share for others.
God reveals through the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 58:1-8) the lent he expects from us. “Is not this the fast I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide from your own flesh?”
Jesus Christ came to this world as the poorest of poor even though He was rich. He did this for you and me.  “ you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor so that you through his poverty might become rich” ( 2nd Cor. 8:9 ) Jesus Christ came to this world for redeeming us from our sins and give us eternal life. He came to make us spiritually rich, make us free and make us eligible for a life with him.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18.)
 When we celebrate Independence Day, let us remember that true freedom is not a matter of doing what we want without restraint, but cultivating the right wants and living in obedience to God’s will.        
 

Prayer
Our gracious Heavenly Father, help us to realize the fact that our strength comes in acknowledging our weaknesses and failures and depending on God.   

 Thought for the Day
“Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, and the spirit of men." Mahatma Gandhi 


                Philip Thomas CPA 
                MTC Dallas Farmers Branch

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