I can hardly wait for July! I’ll bet you think it’s because I have been groaning about our recent frigid weather. Not so! I am anxious for July because that is when my car will be entirely paid for. And I have been thinking about getting a new car, one that is equipped with GPS, otherwise known as Global Positioning Software. You see, I love to travel, but I am directionally challenged. I often get lost. GPS would solve that problem – I would always know exactly where I am and could easily get back on track. Or so I thought until I heard a GPS report about its use in Luckington Village, England. Villagers have been pulling an average of two cars a day out of the Avon River because drivers have been relying more heavily on their GPS than the closed bridge sign on the road before them! I hate to admit it, but relying more on concrete directions than the signs around me sounds like something I would do.

            It’s kind of the way I journey through Lent as well. Just prior to Ash Wednesday, when our Christian Lenten season begins, I set up directions in my own GPS – God Practicing System. I choose a discipline or two such as giving up meat or sweets, reading the Bible and devotions centered on Lenten themes, doing more good works by volunteering more of my time, or doing extra kind things for my family, friends, or new people I meet. I set the directions of my GPS plan and away I go on my Lenten journey. These directional disciplines really are helpful in moving toward my destination of being closer to God. Some days I chug along without hardly a mishap. But I have also learned that rigidly following a set of directional disciplines can cause me to miss the “God Signs” right in front of me. At times I may be so caught up in following the directions that I miss God’s love in my neighbor’s face, or in the kindnesses extended toward me by others, or just the pure  joy of companionship in my Lenten journey. God Practicing Systems are good! They help us to get where we need to go. They help us grow deeper in our knowledge of God and in our discipleship in reaching out to others. They help us cultivate our love for God, the things of the Spirit, and our neighbors. But they must be accompanied by attention to the landscape around us - to follow Christ through the signs of his Spirit as well. Perhaps the direction needs to change; perhaps we need to go a different route in our devotional time or in reaching out. As we continue our spiritual journey through the remainder of Lent, may we follow the signs our loving God sets before us.