What is Lent?

Our tradition doesn't make very much of it, but for many Christians today begins the season of "Lent" which starts 44 days before Maundy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter, when we observe the Last Supper). It is a time to remember the 40 days Jesus fasted in the desert, and think about all He gave up for us on the cross.

The purpose of Lent is to be a season of fasting, self-denial, Christian growth, penitence, conversion, and simplicity. Lent, which comes from the Teutonic (Germanic) word for springtime, can be viewed as a spiritual spring cleaning: a time for taking spiritual inventory and then cleaning out those things which hinder our corporate and personal relationships with Jesus Christ and our service to him.

Of course, Lent is not in the Bible. It is just a tradition. But some traditions can be educational.