Stay Awake

Tonia O. Alabi

This year's Lent for me started with an awareness, which came from the Gospel reading of the First Sunday of Lent picked from the Catholic Lectionary 24.

The story of Jesus's temptation ending with the sentence, "he (Satan) departed from him (Jesus') for a time." This ending of the story of Jesus's temptation has not been captured in most of the books of the Bible except in the book of Luke 4: 13. This really caught my attention.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have journeyed with Christ for 40 days going through some self-deprivations and holdbacks such as anger or any other weak traits we have. Be aware that the devil is waiting and setting his traps as he did for our Saviour even when he knows he is the son of God. So who are you for Satan not to try you. Satan has effrontery, he is ruthless and hungry but I know we are saved for our Lord Jesus is with us and through his death and resurrection, he has shown us the way. He says, keep awake, Luke 22: 45-46.

Assured of our resurrection with Christ the Saviour, we are renewed and transformed. Old things have passed away and we have a new life in Christ so no fears. We deserve to celebrate our liberation, rejoicing with the body of Christ, our families, our friends and especially those we have freshly reconciled with (though cautiously).

Cheers to us all for successfully participating in this year's Lenten works as we sing Hallelujah to the King of Kings this Easter. We are all Winners in Christ.