Opening Prayer: Psalm 8
1 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?[c]
5 You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels[e]
and crowned them[f] with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their[g] feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
A Closer Look: Romans 6:3-14
3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace
When I turned 16, I drove a Volkswagen Beetle. It got me where I needed to go. But eventually, it was time to move on. For my high school graduation, my mother gave me a gift: a Subaru two-door sedan. A real upgrade.
Now, I could have refused that gift. I could have said, “No, thank you, I’ll stick with the Beetle.” But that would have been foolish. Something better had been offered to me. Something more capable, more fitting for the road ahead.
Paul, in his letter to the Romans, is essentially telling us the same thing about our lives in Christ.
“Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? (v. 3)” he writes. ” We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (v. 4)”
That word “new” is everything. Paul is not describing a minor adjustment. He describes a total transformation, a complete change of life.
Think about what he is really saying. Before Christ, we were defined by sin. Not just by the things we did wrong, but by a condition, an orientation, a way of being that was turned away from God. Paul calls it “the old self.” It was like being stuck in a vehicle that could not take us where we were meant to go.
But Baptism changed that. In Baptism, we went down into the waters with Christ. We died with him. And we rose with him. The old self is buried. A new self appears.
This is not a metaphor Paul uses lightly. He is speaking about something real, something that actually happened to each one of us.
We received something far greater than a new car. We received a new identity.
But here is where Paul’s words cut deep, especially in this season of Lent. He says: “Do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies so that you obey their desires. (v.12)” In other words, you have been given a new life. Now live it.
This is the challenge, isn’t it? We have been baptized. We have received the gift. But sometimes we live as if we still own the old Beetle. We go back to old habits, old patterns, old ways of thinking that belong to the person we no longer are.
Notice that Paul is urging us not to drag the old life into the new. The resurrection of Christ is not merely something that happened to Jesus. It is something that must happen in us, day by day.
Lent is precisely the season when God invites us to take that seriously. Not out of guilt or fear, but because we have been loved into a new existence, and it would be a tragedy to waste it.
And notice how Paul frames this. He does not say, “Try harder.” He says, “Consider yourselves dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus. (v. 11)” Before you can live differently, you must believe differently about who you are.
You are not a sinner struggling to become a Christian. You are a child of God, learning to live out what you already are.
Dear friends, this is the invitation of Lent. Not a program of self-improvement, but a return to our truest identity, remembering who we became when we said “yes” to God’s offer of eternal life.
Every time we trust Christ, we are nourished in that new life. We are strengthened to live as the people we truly are – God’s people.
So, as we move through these remaining weeks of Lent, let us ask ourselves honestly: Am I living as the new self or reaching back for the old?
The gift has already been given. The Subaru is in the driveway. It is time to drive it.
God’s Voice:
- Old Testament (covenant): Gen. 41:14-45
- Psalm (song): 24, 29
- Epistle (letter): Rom. 6:3-14
- Gospel (good news): John 5:19-24
Pursuing Holiness
- Prayer: What is God saying to me today? How will I respond?
- Fasting: What can I deny myself today (food, drink, behaviors) as an act of worship?
- Charity: How can I help someone in need today with my time, money, or goods?
Closing Prayer: Psalm 84
1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord Almighty!
2 My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.[c]
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.[d]
7 They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
8 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
listen to me, God of Jacob.
9 Look on our shield,[e] O God;
look with favor on your anointed one.
10 Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
12 Lord Almighty,
blessed is the one who trusts in you.
How do I use this Devotional?
- Read the “Opening Prayer” from scripture to the Lord as your prayer
- Choose one or more of the scripture passages under “God’s Voice” for further reading
- Answer the questions under “Pursuing Holiness”
- Your reflection on the scriptures and how you sense the Holy Spirit leading you today
- Identify how you will practice self-denial today based on God’s leading
- Identify how you want to practice giving today
- Let scripture, prayer, fasting (self-denial), and giving be your spiritual acts of worship
- Keep notes in a journal or planner to enable your follow-through and create a record
- Read the “Closing Prayer”
Since the third century, Christians have used Scripture, Prayer, Self-denial, and Almsgiving as spiritual preparation for Easter.
What is Lent?
Lent is the season in the Christian calendar that leads up to Easter. Lent is 40 days long because Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days before his public ministry. The Israelites, because of their disobedience and rebellion, were made to wander for 40 years in the wilderness before arriving in the promised land. Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai engaged with God in receiving the Ten Commandments. In the Bible, the number 40 is often used to indicate a period of preparation and testing.
In the wilderness, nothing is hidden. We are laid bare to God. We do not have our creature comforts. We are separated from common distractions. We ultimately will return to our lives when the time of preparation is complete. We focus our passion on God while He refines us to fulfill his calling.
Give