Lent Day 8

Scripture   Romans 10:9-13

Reflection

The New Testament is not an invitation to Christianity.  It is an invitation to Christ.  And though making that distinction is simplistic, it is helpful at times to draw a bright line between them.  Christianity comes with great attention to the ABC’s – attendance, buildings, and cash.  It is possible to align ourselves with the institutional trappings of Christianity and never carefully consider (or intentionally avoid) its invitation to faith.

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Whatever the considerable implications of that scripture are, at the simplest level we are invited to make a decision about the person of Jesus Christ.  If the attendance, buildings, and cash were all gone tomorrow, who and what would be left for us to believe in?  Lent is a great season for stripping away Christianity’s veneer and making sure we have aligned ourselves with its solid and unchanging foundation.

Prayer Focus

Living God draw my attention away for a while from the institutional distractions of the faith, and allow me to consider afresh my commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord.