It’s called Lent. And it’s about a whole lot more than ashes, fish and giving something up.

I grew up in a faith tradition that didn’t observe Lent. All I knew about Ash Wednesday was that on one day of the year I would see some of my friends with a dirty smudge on their forehead. And all I knew about Lent was that for a few Fridays in the spring semester the school cafeteria menu changed from the routine and predictable hamburger to fish Friday.

Maybe your faith tradition looks like mine did and you are not sure what this is all about? Perhaps this is all new to you but you are a bit curious? Or perhaps your annual version of Lent has become routine, dull and dry?

If so, here’s the intention of Lent:

Where do you find yourself running in circles, but not really living life with direction, purpose or passion? Where are you caught up in the drama of school, work, family, and relationships? Where is your life filled with distractions that take you away from living a life with Christ? Where are you trying to fill the emptiness inside us with mindless TV, meaningless chatter, caffeine, alcohol, and too many activities or other irrelevant stuff? Where are you running away from life and from God?

Lent is a 40-day period of self-examination and reflection. A time for us to look inward at those things that are keeping us from living in complete relationship with Jesus Christ. So, on this Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent, ask yourself two questions:

1. Where will I say no? 

What is distracting me from God? Is it TV, books, my calendar, social media, my phone? What do I need to let go of, withhold or say “no” to in order to focus on God? What are the activities, attitudes, or obligations that clutter my life? Do I have the courage and the faith to go without that thing for the next 40 days?

2. Where will I say yes?

What can I take on for Christ these next 40 days? Where have I struggled to be a “doer” of the Word and not just a “hearer”? Maybe it’s time I serve at church? Maybe it’s blessing a stranger with a random act of kindness in the name of Jesus every day of Lent? Or maybe it’s being present, purposeful and engaged at home with my spouse and children?

It’s called Lent. And it’s about a whole lot more than ashes, fish and giving something up.