Lent: What is it? Why is it?
The highlight of the year for Christians is Easter, the day when Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Lent is a forty-day season of preparation for Easter. Lent always begins on a Wednesday, called Ash Wednesday(This year - March 1st) .

Why 40 days? Because, Jesus fasted and was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days. Lent, then, is our time of fasting, prayer, temptation and repentance. Lent is not required anywhere in scriptures, but it has been a custom, which Christians have practiced for most of the last two thousand years.

In many languages, the word “Lent” actually means “fast.” This is where the custom of giving up something for Lent originated.

However, just to confuse things, Lent is actually 46 days rather than 40 days. Why? Because the 40 days of Lent are supposed to be days of fasting, which means days of discipline and self-restraint. But Sunday, the Lord’s Day, should never be a day of fasting, but a day of celebration! So each Sunday we suspend our Lenten disciplines and celebrate. Lent is 40 “fasting” days spread out over a total of 46 days beginning on Ash Wednesday.

The focus of Lent was always threefold:

It was a time to prepare new converts for baptism through intensive classes and instruction.

It was a time for long-standing Christians to review their lives and renew their commitment to Jesus Christ.

It was a time for backsliders to be restored to the faith.
In every case, it is a time for serious, disciplined self-examination, a time spent in intensive prayer and repentance before the cross of Calvary.

To represent the dark and serious business of Lent, one custom has been to strip the sanctuary of all flowers, candles, and colors during Lent. This custom helps us to turn inward and examine ourselves, even as it reminds us of the dark and colorless Sabbath day when Jesus lay dead in the tomb.

Put simply, Lent is a time to examine ourselves carefully. Here are some questions upon which you might pray and meditate during Lent:

God loves each and every one of us so much. He loves us beyond comprehension. He offers us the most beautiful gift. It is a free gift to all who will receive. It is the gift of salvation. He offers us the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, His Only Begotten Son. The gift of salvation is a gift with no strings attached. We only have to believe in Jesus and receive Him.

John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. Why does man need Salvation?? Mankind is lost spiritually. Sin separates man from God. God is holy and cannot have sin in His presence. God is a loving God and He so wants to have a close relationship with us but sin separates us from God. The Bible tells us that ALL on this earth have sinned and have fallen short of God’s glory. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they brought sin into the world and upon all mankind and the close fellowship that they had with God was no longer possible because of sin. God instructed man to make unblemished animal sacrifices for their sin.

The Bible tells us that “For without the shedding of blood, there is no remission for sin.” The blood of these animals covered man’s sins but the blood of animals could not actually take sins away. God had a wonderful plan to restore mankind unto Himself. This plan would take away the sins of the world. All one would have to do is accept God’s free gift of salvation. Man has been granted a free will by God and because of this God will not force Himself on anyone. But He wants His creation to come to Him and be saved. God’s plan of salvation is so wonderful.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God. John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. John 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. John 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

The Word came down and became flesh– born of a virgin, lived a sinless life and gave up His own life on the cross to pay the price for the sins of the world. The Word is Jesus Christ who shed His own blood for our sins upon the cross. Jesus rose again from the dead on the third day. It was prophesied in the Old Testament, in Isaiah 53, hundreds of years before Jesus came, that Messiah would die a terrible death and save His people from their sins and be raised from the dead. The prophet, John the Baptist, called Jesus the Lamb of God. John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Because Jesus never sinned, His sacrifice of His own life paid the price for our sins. That is why He is called the Lamb of God. He took upon Himself all the sins of the world and He shed His own blood that we might be saved. He offers eternal life to all who will receive Him as their Savior. Salvation is a wonderful free gift. Jesus rose from the dead three days after His crucifixion. By conquering death, all those who receive Him automatically will live forever with Him and death shall have no power over them. Because of His Resurrection, We can walk a victorious life through the power of the Holy Spirit. The true meaning of life begins upon this earth when one receives Christ. And when a believer dies, they go to live with Jesus forever. God the Father sent His Only Begotten Son Jesus into the world to save the world because God loves us so much.