Fasting Day 30 of 40 | Fifth Tuesday of Lent
“David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.” 2 Samuel 5:4
Lent teaches us to fear the Lord. We learn this from looking at the life of David. And we gain insight from listening to Teresa of Ávila.
This excerpt comes from Interior Castle. “I must give you one warning: be not too confident…David was very holy, yet you know what Solomon became. Therefore, do not rely on your enclosure, on your penitential life, nor on your continual exercise of prayer and constant communion with God, nor trust in having left the world or in the idea that you hold its ways in horror. All this is good, but is not enough, as I have already said, to remove all fear; therefore, meditate on this text and often recall it: ’Blessed is the person that fears the Lord” (Psalm 112:1).
Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) in Interior Castle (Grand Rapids: CCEL), p. 40.
Since Teresa used the castle motif for the spiritual journey, imagine a castle made of stones. We build our lives one stone at a time, engaging practices like giving, prayer, and fasting to detach from the world and attach to God. We do these disciplines to learn how to live life after Lent.
But this post comes with a warning. Don’t assume others will follow you! Teach your children and grandchildren. They don’t need things to grasp life with you. Teach them to fear the Lord. The rest will fall into place.
Lord, help me meditate on your Word and model fearing You. Amen.
Do you have any little people in your life?
How might you do Lent with them in future years to teach them the fear of the Lord?