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Holland Presbyterian Church
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February 2010
What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has no works? Can his faith save him? … faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. James 2:14, 17 It seems like we only just finished celebrating the New Year, and already we’re digging into the second month! January was a very cold month, as it should be, but the only big storm was in the form of a warm rain. We hope that each of you weathered this wintry month with your health and resolutions intact. February is also a cold month, and winter starts to get a little tiresome. Fortunately, it’s a short month, so we’ll settle down with our seed catalogs and dream of warmth and outdoor activities. More importantly, this is also the month when Lent begins – a time of serious pondering of our spiritual condition. Perhaps it’s well that we’re not distracted by all comes with the warmer months. Through the 40 days of Lent, Holland Church will offer times of worship, Bible study and prayer. We encourage you to be a part of these opportunities, and to personally spend extra time in the scriptures and in prayer. So often, when we consider our spiritual condition, as we do during Lent, we look at our lives in terms of our surroundings – as shown on TV, in newspaper stories, in conversations and gossip. Which, compared to some of the things we see and hear, can be reassuring – we’re pretty good – we don’t really feel guilty about most of the things we do. Indeed, to a degree, we feel quite superior to those we feel earn punishment, and deserve thwarted plans. Our comfortable lifestyle seldom makes us uncomfortable, even when we’re reminded of the struggles others are having. We make our charitable donations – isn’t that enough? Well, this depends on our goal. Probably we will feel self-satisfied if we look outward at all the goings-on in this world. However, in Lent, we’re directed to look upward. And suddenly we’re reminded that we’re not one of the better persons in a world of full of evil-doers, but a humble sinner who dares to himself a Christian – called by the name of the One who is perfect. We are human. We’ll never be perfect in this life. But this does not mean we should ever stop trying to emulate, in word and deed, the one whose name we claim. What it does mean is that we should recognize our weakness, confess our short-comings, and put our lives and our living into the hands of the One who went to the Cross for us; so that, after a lifetime of striving, imperfect as we are, He can welcome us home – forgiven, loved and sanctified.
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