Fasting for a Week

I've decided that I need to write on here every Sunday. If nothing else than to recap on what I learned in Church in the morning. So often I go to church, take notes, and forget what I've learned within a few hours. That's not good. It's good to have someone ask me what the sermon was about, but I don't always have that. So I'm going to write about it to keep the message fresh on my mind.

This morning my pastor talked about Lent and fasting. He asked the congregation to raise their hands if they have ever practiced Lent. About half of the people raised their hands. I didn't grow up practicing Lent. I honestly didn't know anything about it. And when I did finally learn about it in high school or college (not sure when) I just thought it was something Catholics practiced. Maybe it is more prominent in the Catholic church, but that doesn't mean it isn't something I could do. If I understand correctly essentially Lent in fasting. It is giving up something to focus on something of greater value. And what is the thing of greatest value we should be focusing on? Christ! It is so easy to let things take the place of Christ in our lives.
I know I could spend more time focusing on prayer, Scripture, and time with Christ. The problem I have is that I get home from work and turn on my tv. I even sit watching tv thinking about how I should be reading my Bible instead or listening to a sermon or something. And yet there I sit with my eyes on the tv.
Can you see where this is going?
Yes, I need to turn off my tv for a period of time.
And instead of watching tv I'm going to fill that time with things that will help me grow in my walk with the Lord.

• Listen to sermons on podcasts
• Dig deep into Scripture
• Continue reading the Christian living book I started a long time ago
• Complete my Bible study homework for the week
• Spend time in prayer

Doesn't that sound good?! It actually really sounds good to me. The thing that makes me nervous is that I'm notorious for getting excited about something like this and then after a day or so it fizzles out and I give up. But I totally feel convicted about doing this. 

So...starting first thing tomorrow I will not be watching tv until the following Monday. Not even the news in the morning. I look forward to reporting on how it goes. But I especially look forward to seeing what God has for me to learn through this experience.