Written by Pastor Tim Ehrlich

A man was driving along a country road, when he noticed a chicken running alongside his car. He was amazed to see the chicken keeping up with him as he was doing 30 mph! He accelerated to 45, and the chicken passed him! The man had never seen anything like that, so he followed the chicken; it ran into a hen house at a farm along the road. He pulled up to the farmhouse and saw chickens all over the place and each had four legs. A farmer was sitting on the porch. The man asked, “What’s up with these chickens?” The farmer said “Well, everybody likes chicken legs, so I bred a four-legged bird. I’m going to be a millionaire.” The man said, “that’s amazing! How do they taste?” The farmer said, “Don’t know, I haven’t caught one yet.”

Sometimes getting close to Jesus feels like trying to catch one of those 45 mile per hour chickens, doesn’t it? Did you know that catching up to Jesus is the real purpose of Lent? Ironically, we catch up with Jesus by slowing down: most of us pride ourselves on being busy. In this go, go, go world, Jesus can fall into the pile of things we will do when we get some free time. If you have been going too fast and are not feeling close to Jesus, take advantage of the Lenten season to slow down so you can find time to grow closer to him. Here are 7 things you can use to catch up with the Jesus during Lent:

Meditation: take time (30 – 55 minutes) during Lent to think deeply about the suffering that Jesus went through in his arrest, trial, torture, and crucifixion.

Self-reflection: think about your sins that made his suffering necessary, think about what you would like your relationship to Jesus to be like.

Self-denial: fasting is always a great way to focus your attention on Jesus. Eat nothing from sunrise to sunset or give up sweets or a favorite TV show.

Read the Bible: you can read the four gospels in just 20 minutes a day during Lent.

Volunteer at a ministry: there are lots of ways to serve others through the church.

Attend all worship opportunities: Sundays and during Holy Week.

Pray: make sure you pray the Lord’s prayer before every meal, being careful to think about the meaning of each word as you pray.

The more of these activities you engage in, the faster you will catch up with Jesus during Lent!

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